


i will follow you into the dark

by noyacchis



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, During Canon, Happy Ending, M/M, Memory Loss, Tags May Change, Warnings May Change, mostly - Freeform, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-28
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2019-07-18 16:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16122473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noyacchis/pseuds/noyacchis
Summary: Revali is dead, but he can still watch over Hyrule from where his spirit is trapped in Vah Medoh. However, he is only interested in the travels of one Hylian Champion, who is so much stupider now that he's lost his memories than he was a hundred years ago.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! i have no idea if this fandom is even still active tbh i just got a switch and botw this summer, and ive recently started my second run of the game and dove headfirst into this ship
> 
> ive already written the prologue and the first two chapters, and chapter three is in the works -- my current estimate is that this story will have 9 chapters (including the prologue), but that could change! i'll keep the total at 9 and mention it in the notes if it changes, though!
> 
> who knows if anyone's even gonna read this since im so late on writing for this fandom but oh well tbh this is the first time ive ever had a fic completely planned out and it's a personal goal of mine to finish it, so if anyone does read this, let me know if you enjoy it through kudos and comments!

Being a spirit is immensely boring. 

Worse is being a spirit tied to the place you died, the place you loved and protected in life, and seeing it ravaged by your own murderer. 

Revali doesn't know how long it's been since he died. The last of the Rito he knew in life passed on years ago (how many years? it's hard to say), and their children now have children of their own, so Revali would guess it's been at least a century. 

Ganon still rages in Hyrule Castle, but he's never once gone farther. Whenever Revali turns his metaphysical sights toward the castle, he can see her light, glowing pure among Ganon's darkness. 

Princess Zelda still fights Ganon, trapping herself in there with him so that her people may carry on. Like Revali, and like the other Champions, she awaits the return of the Hero of Hyrule. Every time his thoughts turn that way, Revali casts his nonexistent gaze to the Great Plateau and Shrine of Resurrection. Though he cannot become corporeal and is anchored to Divine Beast Vah Medoh, Revali can see almost any part of Hyrule he desires. This is the place he watches more than any other. 

Even after a hundred years, Link sleeps on. Revali doesn't know much about this shrine -- he only ever heard Zelda talk about it once. From his understanding, only one who has been chosen by that darkness-sealing sword may be placed in the Shrine. But the Shrine also comes at a price: though he will be healed of all that ails him, enough to bring him back from the brink of death, all of Link's memories will be lost. He will not remember who he is or what he must do. He will not even remember the ones he loved. 

All of their faith, and with it, the fate of Hyrule, is being placed in someone who might wake up and not even know his own name. 

Beyond his fear for the fate of Hyrule, Revali's heart breaks for his personal loss. Link isn't dead, but will the Link who wakes up truly be the Link he fell in love with? Will he be the link who fell in love with  _him_? Not that it really matters, of course. Revali is dead, after all. Wouldn't it be less cruel for Link to forget him, to never know what they once had so that he might never feel the pain of loss as Revali does?

But that thought always reminds Revali of his adopted father, the former Elder of Rito Village. His voice always echoes in Revali's thoughts when they travel down this path:  _it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all._ Besides, Revali has always been selfish. He doesn't want Link to suffer this pain, but he also doesn't want to suffer alone, and he doesn't want to be forgotten. 

His thoughts travel in circles like this for a hundred years. 

Then Link wakes up. 


	2. Link

All he knows is that he is Link. Beyond his name, he knows nothing. Not where he is, or what he is doing here, or where he came from. All he knows is that he is Link, and a female voice is speaking to him. She guides him to a pedestal, which provides him with something called a Sheikah Slate. She guides him out of the place where he woke up, and he finds some clothes that are just a little too small, and smell rather musty after being left in those chests for a hundred years. 

Soon, he steps out of the cavern, and Hyrule's hero looks upon the world for the first time in a hundred years. 

//

//

Revali loves him --  _Goddess_ he loves him -- but this new Link is a total idiot without his memories. He steals an apple from the king -- totally unfair that he can talk to Link and Revali can't, but that's a whole other rant -- and then Link manages to set himself on fire  _three separate times._ If Revali had a grave, he'd be rolling in it. 

But Revali can still see the old Link in there. Injured from fighting Moblins, Link finds a group of Bokoblins huddled around a fire at sunset. It's only been a day since he woke up, and the king is making Link run around in circles to get that paraglider -- Revali helped Link make that, dammit, it's  _his_ \-- and the boy is clearly exhausted. So instead of rushing into a fight he clearly can't win with his nearly-broken tree branch, Link readies an arrow and launches it right over the monsters' heads. 

At first Revali thinks he missed, but before he can roll his metaphysical eyes, the arrow lands in a courser bee hive. Link watches from afar as the hive falls and the bees swarm before attacking the first creatures they see: the Bokoblins. With hardly any clothes on to protect them from the stingers, the monsters are forced away from their camp with the bees close behind, buzzing angrily. 

Link's triumphant grin as he takes over their camp is achingly familiar, and as Link seasons the monsters' food with honey from the fallen hive, Revali knows he will never stop loving this boy, memory-less idiot though he is. 

//

//

Link goes to Kakariko Village as the king suggests simply because he has nothing better to do. On the way, he finds several more of those shrines, though they don't give him runes like the first ones. He also finds a stable, where he meets living people for the first time since waking up. One is a traveling merchant with a bug-shaped backpack who Link likes right away. He talks to the other people at the stable, and they all give him tips for catching a wild horse. He goes out and catches one as afternoon bleeds into evening, a gray and white one whose personality is gentle and easygoing. 

He asks Beedle about the ruins on the lake on the other side of the mountains, and Beedle tells him they were once the site of Deya Village. Link had felt something there, some kind of feeling of deja vu that wasn't quite a memory, but was more a feeling that that place was important to him somehow. He names his new horse Deya to onor that almost-memory. 

He stays the night at the stable, though with barely a hundred rupees to his name, he doesn't spend the extra on a softer bed. At first light, he and Deya set out. The trip to Kakariko Village is quick on horseback -- they arrive by midafternoon, even after stopping several times to fight monsters along the road. 

Meeting Impa makes Link feel guilty, because she is the first person he's met who knew him before his hundred-year nap. She does not, however, seem terribly surprised or saddened by the news that he's lost his memory. He doesn't get the impression that he and Impa were extremely close a hundred years ago, but he can tell that she cared greatly for the princess. 

( Link supposes he must have too, once, but for now Zelda is nothing more than a mysterious voice and another person he's supposed to save. )

Paya, Impa's granddaughter, is kind, if a little quiet. Link finds that he doesn't much mind her shyness, and they get along well as she shows him around the small village. He meets an eccentric painter who shows him the way (well, half of the way) to the Great Fairy Fountain, where he is forced to part with a sizeable chunk of his rupees. He supposes he can sell off some of the monster parts and materials he's picked up to earn it back, but still, a hundred rupees hurts. She improves his equipment, though, and Pikango thanks him for the picture, even if he seems a little disappointed. 

Following Impa's advice (because, once again, Link has nothing better to do), Link and Deya go back down the path out of the village. A ways down the hill, Link meets an interesting...creature, who introduces himself as Hetsu. He seems upset, so after a few questions, Link goes to win back his maracas from the nearby monsters. 

"You know, that bag you're carrying was made in my home! If you have some Korok seeds, I can expand it for you!" Hetsu explains, shaking his empty maracas and dancing on the spot as he speaks. As it happens, Link has met a few other Koroks already, and it's not like  _he_ has any use for the seeds they give him, so he trades some to Hetsu for an expansion to his apparently magical bag. At least that explains why he can fit entire axes, spears, and shields in that bag alongside all his food and supplies. 

He and Deya continue on their way, but they go slowly through what looks to be an old battlefield. Dead Guardians are lying everywhere, and monsters prowl between them. The place gives Link an uneasy feeling, like it too is important somehow. He doesn't know if he wants to remember what happened here, though. 

Through the fog, he sees the unmistakable pink light of a live Guardian across the plain, and he urges Deya onward before it sees them. They move off the plain and through what his map says is Fort Hateno at a sprint. 

//

//

Hateno is at least twice the size of Kakariko, and Link meets plenty of new people there. He offers to buy a house from Bolson, and though he doesn't have nearly enough money now, he resolves to start saving up.

Purah is, in a word, weird. Even after a whole day of knowing her, it's still strange to hear a child talk like a professional scientist. She does help him complete and improve the Slate, though. He ends up spending a few days in Hateno, meeting the villagers and helping them with their problems. The children especially take to him extremely well, and by the third day in the village he feels like a glorified jungle gym. He does manage to keep his weapons away from the kids, though, thanks to the innkeeper helping him hide his magical bag. 

Even after earning rupees for helping the townsfolk, he's barely halfway to his goal of 3,000, and he knows it's time tomove on. Apparently he's the only one who can save the land, after all. So on the morning of the fourth day, he and Deya set out, with a promise to return soon. 

Lanayru Promenade is full of monsters and hidden treasure, and Link ends up spending a whole day wandering around, and even discovers a shrine behind a waterfall. He commandeers some goblins' campfire for the night (after slaying the monsters, of course), then he and Deya continue on their way. 

He is struck by his first memory when he reaches the East Gate. He remembers walking in this very spot, three paces behind the princess and watching her in concern. Four others await them at the gate: a Zora, a Gerudo, cannot entirelya Goron, and a Rito, and although Link cannot entirely recall their names, he knows that they are his close friends. There's a sense of recognition that lights his chest at the sight of them, the feeling that these are people he'd trust with his life -- people he has already trusted with his life. 

He remembers the conversation, but he doesn't entirely follow hat it's about. He gathers that Zelda couldn't do something on top of the mountain -- maybe he should go up to the top before he goes to Zora's Domain, as there might be another memory triggered up there. Their discussion is soon interrupted by a sudden rumble that rocks the ground under their feet.

Link automatically reaches to steady Zelda, but his eyes follow the Rito as he shoots into the air. Link remembers a stab of fearful worry that seems just a little bit out of place, before the Rito (what is his name? Link wishes he knew) returns to the ground and confirms what they all feared: Ganon has returned. The Goron is speaking, but in Links memory the only one he's looking at is the Rito, who starts approaching him as the memory fades to black. 

In the present, Link falls to his knees, pressing a hand to his head as he stares at the picture on the Slate, the Rito's sharp gaze still burned into his mind. 

_Who are you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's our first full chapter! in both runs of the game, the first memory i unlocked was the return of ganon, and i just think it makes the most sense for link to get it first, since it's kind of between hateno and zora's domain. i also headcanon that link was born in deya village (it's one of the village ruins around the dueling peaks), and i took that headcanon from another fic i read at some point. this story won't go too deeply into link's pre-canon backstory, but once this is finished i may write a prequel that does explore it a little more!
> 
> also, the rest of the chapters aren't going to switch point of view. i just really liked the little revali section i had and didn't want to get rid of his narration. from here on out, chapters will be entirely revali's pov or entirely link's. 
> 
> i'm not sure when i'll be able to get chapter two posted. i'm still in the process of writing chapter three, and i'd like to get that one done before i post chapter two. please be patient with me! as always, leave kudos and comments if you liked it, and subscribe if you want to get notified when i post a new chapter!


	3. Revali

Link goes to Mipha first. 

It makes sense. After all, she's the closest to where he ended up in Hateno, and he doesn't remember any of them. But still, their history and Mipha's painfully obvious feelings for Link hang over Revali, and he only gets more annoyed when he sees Link meet Sidon, Mipha's younger brother. A hundred years ago, he was practically the Zora equivalent of a toddler, running along behind his sister and tripping over his own feet. Now he's full-grown and strong and  _hot_ and, worst of all, just as in love with Link as his sister was. 

Revali should be happy. He's dead, after all, and it would be completely unfair of him to expect Link to never enter another relationship, even if he does recover his memories. Link deserves to move on. He deserves to be happy. 

Of course, knowing all this doesn't make Revali any less jealous. 

He can feel it when Link succeeds, when Mipha and Ruta are freed from Ganon's control. Medoh, ignoring Revali's pleas to stop, redoubles her attacks against the Rito people, surely in a show of Ganon's frustration. 

Revali underestimated Mipha's maturity, apparently, for she clearly gives Link some kind of hint to go to Rito Village next, as Link suddenly sets his sights to the northwest as he leaves Zora's Domain, despite Goron City and Daruk being far closer. However, he's stopped by the multitude of Guardians prowling around Hyrule Field, and he's forced to cut either north or south. Revali wonders at what this memory-less Link will decide -- to the north of Hyrule Castle lies Korok Forest and the Great Deku Tree, where the Master Sword is surely hidden. To the south is Faron, an area where Link spent much of his childhood. He surprises Revali (he's always done that, of course, it's nothing new) by going neither north nor south and instead turning around and heading back into Lanayru. 

Revali doesn't realize why until Link settles in for the night at a campfire by the East Gate, and Revali turns his gaze to the mountain spring, where a dragon circles the peak, covered in Malice. "I don't get the impression that you were ever a very patient person," Link says, looking up at the gate, and Revali realizes with a jolt that Link is speaking to him. "But wait a while longer. I think there's someone on that mountain who needs my help." 

Revali has no way of responding to Link from here, but he wishes he could tell him that he would wait a thousand years if it meant he got to see Link just one more time. 

//

//

He watches Link climb the mountain, and laments that Link didn't go to Rito Village first, if only to grab some Snowquill to keep him warm. His elixirs seem to be working alright, but there are only so many, and it's not like there's an abundance of cooking fires on Mount Lanayru. 

(The old Link would have rolled his eyes at Revali and called him a worrywart, then gone out in the cold with no protection just to prove he could. Even without his memories, this Link would probably do the same.)

The blue dragon is plagued by Malice, much like Medoh is. Revali scowls at the horrible yellow eyes marring the beautiful scales, and to save Link the trouble of repeatedly scaling the peak, he musters all his strength to call strong winds to the mountain. He creates updrafts strong enough for Link to use his glider to become level with the dragon and shoot the eyes with ease. Revali can't help but smile to himself as he watches, because although Link doesn't know it, all of his bow techniques came from Revali. A shame, really, that Link has no idea that he learned from one of the most skilled archers in history. 

He sees the last of the Malice die and the dragon restored before his consciousness must retreat back to Medoh, his strength drained after projecting his power all the way across the land. 

(Unbeknownst to Revali, Link shivers before the Goddess's Statue as the wind quiets -- it had been strangely warm, and he feels oddly lonely now that it's gone.)

//

//

By the time Revali has regained enough strength to look towards Link again, the Hylian is in Faron, braving roaring thunderstorms as he continues his travels. Revali watches Link as he shoots at another dragon, only this one clearly isn't infested with Malice. After diving into Floria Lake, the annoyed dragon flying away, Link retrieves the dragon's scale from where it fell in the lake. Revali has no earthly idea what Link would want with that, and watches as the Hylian takes it to Dracozu Lake, where he approaches the Spring of Courage and, at the encouragement of the Goddess, offers the scale to the spring.

The Goddess guides Link to a shrine once he's completed her little quest, and as Link completes the shrine, Revali thinks about how it's rather unfair that the Goddess is talking to Link so freely now, when she spent years ignoring Zelda's dedication and prayer. He's certain that if Link remembered Zelda's desperation to unlock her sealing power, he would be rather annoyed with the Goddess as well. 

//

//

Link continues heading west, but the canyons force him to the Gerudo Desert first. Revali isn't really surprised, but he still appreciates it when Link stands on top of the inn at the bazaar at sunset and looks again to the north. "I've gotten sidetracked again," he says, the setting sun glinting gorgeously off his golden hair. "Be patient for a while longer. I promise I'm coming."

How can Revali complain after that? 

(And besides, he hardly minds seeing Link in the traditional Gerudo getup.)

//

//

Revali can't see what goes on in the other Divine Beasts. Besides Hyrule Castle, they are his only blind spots in all of Hyrule. He doesn't know why -- maybe because they're occupied by Zelda and the other Champions. Kind of unfair that Revali can't communicate with his friends, but whatever. The point is that Revali can't see how Link is faring against the beast that killed Urbosa. In all honesty, Revali is a little scared. Urbosa was quite fearsome, and she was nearly unstoppable when she fought seriously. The beast that bested her must have been formidable. This is only further confirmed when Link teleports back to Gerudo Town with Naboris still rampaging in the desert. Revali knows he must have been defeated, and he takes a moment to thank the Goddess (unfair though she may be) that Link was able to escape with his life. 

The Hylian is covered in nasty wounds, many of which look like he was literally struck by lightning. Revali shouts in frustration when Link doesn't go back into the town to be treated, and instead teleports away. Revali has no idea where he might have gone, and he fears for a moment that the idiot went back to Naboris to confront the monster again. But after a short search of Hyrule, Revali finds Link back in Faron, already building a fire beneath a rocky overhang. It's not raining now, but it's sure to start at some point soon -- it is Faron, after all. 

Though he's shivering slightly, Link stays in the Gerudo clothes long enough to do some basic first aid on his wounds before changing back into his regular tunic and trousers combo. With his dinner roasting over the fire, Link sighs and leans back against the rock wall behind him. 

"i'm a coward," he says into the fire, and though he's facing east rather than north, Revali pretends he's talking to him. 

"You're not," Revali replies uselessly, knowing Link can't hear him. 

"I ran away to save myself," Link continues, and Revali marvels and even when Link can't hear him or even properly remember him, they're still talking like nothing's changed. "How could I have gone back to Gerudo Town to tell them that?"

"You're no good to anyone dead," Revali insists, despite knowing that his words will always go unheard. "The princess needs you alive.  _I_ need you alive."

Link is silent, and Revali sighs.  _At least this silence isn't because he's afraid to speak,_ Revali thinks, remembering how Link was a hundred years ago.  _It's just because he has nobody to speak to._

After several minutes, Link speaks up again, looking around at the trees beyond his shelter. "But that's why I came to Faron," he says, and Revali is pleased to hear a hopeful tone back in Link's voice. "In a place so constantly plagued by storms, there must be some lightning-resistant equipment lying around somewhere. Tomorrow I'll go to the stable at the bridge and ask around about it. 

"Deya's still at the Gerudo Canyon Stable, so I guess I'm on my own for this one," he continues, and Revali knows that if he had a face, his expression would be so fond it'd make Urbosa pretend to gag. "I suppose I could find a second horse," Link is saying. "But perhaps another time. I want to hurry up and free Urbosa and Naboris."

He takes his roasted bird off the fire and eats it quickly before settling down for the night, watching the embers of the fire. "You know," he says quietly, clearly on the verge of sleep. "Even when I'm alone like this, I still feel like someone's listening. I don't know you, but I feel like I should, and I'm sorry for that. I promise I'll free you soon." Link falls asleep soon after that, and Revali spends the night watching him, keeping an eye on the surrounding area for monsters with a plan to summon winds to wake Link if there's danger near. In the meantime, he spends the night reliving the memories the two of them no longer share. 

//

//

It takes Link five days to find the rubber pants and rubber helm, each in a different shrine in Faron. Revali  _loses it_ when he sees Link in that stupid looking helm. He has to look away as Link finishes his preparations, buying arrows and making electric-resistant food and elixirs. He finally returns to Vah Naboris, and Revali's mood instantly sobers as he loses sight of the Hylian completely. 

Hous later, Link reappears in Gerudo Town, but in a burst of golden light rther than the usual blue of his Slate. Revali can feel Urbosa's newly-freed spirit celebrating, and guiding Naboris to set her sights on Ganon. Medoh's frustration grows once again as the Gerudo people are liberated from their fear of their Divine Beast, while the rito hide from the fury of theirs. 

"Alright, girl," Link says to his horse a day later, when he arrives at the canyon stable where he left her. "To Rito Village. There's someone important I need to save."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two divine beasts free! idk about anyone else, but i always find ruta the easiest (and mipha's grace is super useful when you have like five hearts lmao) so i always do the zoras first. and both times i lost to thunderblight ganon like....seriously. naboris's puzzles are super hard and then the boss is hard too like?? the second time i played i cleared the puzzles, lost to the boss, then waited until i had the master sword to come back and kill thunderblight like i just. suck against that boss
> 
> but anyway! the rubber helm is super stupid looking if you dont have it you should def find it (idk which shrine it's in exactly, but it's definitely in faron like the pants). ive never found the rubber armor (cause ive never really tried to look for it) but the helm does look really dumb and i cant take anything seriously when link's wearing it
> 
> next time: rito village! remember to kudo, comment, and subscribe if you liked it!


	4. Link

It takes Link just over a week to get from the Gerudo Canyon to the border of Tabantha and Hebra, where Rito Village lies. He makes it to Rito Stable late on his ninth night of traveling, and barely manages to get Deya boarded and his bed purchased before he's collapsing onto it and falling asleep. He sleeps in until noon, catching up on all the rest he missed on the journey here. Though the sun is high in the sky, the stablehand gives him a spicy elixir, with the assurance that he'll need it. The stablehand is right. Rito Village and the areas around it are  _freezing._ The elixirs help Link not feel like a walking ice block, but his breath still puffs visibly in front of him.

He gets the same sense of familiarity from the village that he did from Zora's Domain, the feeling that he somehow knows his way around, despite having no memories of being here before. He has the feeling that he spent a lot of time here before the Calamity, even though he can't remember any of it. It's bizarre being able to easily navigate the confusing layers and platforms of the village, and he feels the constant tug of those almost-memories, the knowledge that important things happened to him here lurking in the back of his mind. 

He speaks with the Elder Kaneli, who insists on calling him the  _descendant_ of the Hylian Champion. Link quickly decides it isn't worth the effort to correct him, instead focusing on finding out all he can about Medoh and what it's been doing against the Rito. Kaneli sends him to the house next door to search for the warrior Teba, but he isn't home. His wife is, though, and she tells Link that her husband has been spending a lot of time training at the Flight Range. "It's a quick flight across from Revali's Landing," she says, gesturing out the window to a large platform below. Link looks out at it, and is instantly struck with a memory, just as he was at the sight of Mipha's statue and Urbosa's helm. 

In his memory, Link is standing on that platform, either looking out at the view or waiting for something, Link doesn't remember. From somewhere below the landing, a burst of wind flows, bringing with it a Rito, soaring up and perching on the landing with a flourish. His feathers are a deep navy and adorned with beads and gemstones, and his scarf is the same blue that Link and all the other Champions wear. After weeks of struggling to remember his name, Link knows it as if it had never escaped him in the first place. This is Revali. 

He seems like kind of an asshole, but somehow it fills Link's heart with a fondness that is all at once familiar and strange. And this isn't the  _memory_ of the feeling, either -- in his memory, he doesn't feel anything toward Revali beyond a slight annoyance at being mocked. This must be an early memory of Revali, and looking back on it is triggering this weird feelings of fondness that must have developed later. 

(High above the village, Revali has just relived the same memory, and fervently hopes that Link soon remembers other things besides that moment.)

In Teba's house, Link falls to his knees, the Rito woman fussing over him in concern. "Descendant!" She exclaims, shaking his shoulders. "Are you alright? You went into a trance and suddenly fell over, I...why are you crying?"

Link raises a hand to his cheek, where, sure enough, he feels wet tears. "I don't know," he replies, not entirely honestly, still looking out at the landing named for his old friend. 

//

//

The inn is strangely one of the only places in the village that doesn't give Link one of those almost-memory feelings. He supposes he must have stayed with Revali when he was here, or in special housing set aside for the Champions, like in Zora's Domain. Before he goes out to look for Teba, he asks Kaneli about it, and the Elder directs him to a house slightly farther up from the Elder's, overlooking the shrine. 

"It belonged to the Rito Champion Revali," Kaneli explains. "The landing below is also named for him. No one has lived in that house since Revali fell in the Calamity, but we do keep it clean and aired out, to honor his memory. Though of course, the last Rito who knew Revali must have passed on several years ago, as very few of us live to a full century. But anyway, as the Hylian Champion's Descendant, I see no problem with you staying in that house. The stories say that Revali and the Hylian Champion were incredibly close, after all." 

Link makes a note to ask the Elder about those stories later -- perhaps they will help him remember something new -- but for now he just thanks him and heads up to the house. He passes by the shrine -- he activated the travel gate as soon as he arrived, but he hasn't completed the challenge yet -- and continues up to the highest house in the village. 

It's not any bigger than the other houses, nor any more lavish. Link feels that same sense of deja vu as he nears it, and he thinks that if he and Revali truly were close, then entering this house might trigger another memory. He hesitates at the curtain covering the front door -- Champion blue, just like Link's tunic -- and then turns and hurries back down the stairs, tears pricking his eyes. He can't pinpoint why he isn't able to go in the house yet, but he knows the memories he has there are important, and he doesn't feel quite ready for them yet. 

He takes a running leap off Revali's Landing and opens his paraglider, soaring across to the Flight Range to find Teba. 

//

//

The Flight Range gives him deja vu, as well. Teba only makes it worse -- he makes Link feel like he should remember another bullheaded Rito warrior, but he still can't. 

Teba gives him an archery challenge, but as soon as Link opens his paraglider and catches an updraft, he's hit with another memory. The shock of it makes him let go of his paraglider with one hand, and he falls hard back onto the platform, Teba shouting in surprise behind him. Link hardly hears him, though, already losing himself in the memory. 

He and Revali are sitting by the fire just inside, a pile of what appears to be firewood between them. Then Revali picks it up, and Link realizes that it's his paraglider, but without the cloth added yet. 

"Alright, you have the cloth?" Revali says, and Link pulls it from around his own shoulders -- he'd been using it as a blanket. Revali rolls his eyes and takes it from Link. "Tomorrow I'm finishing your Snowquill armor. You need it. Those elixirs don't last long enough." 

Link only shrugs, already in the process of pulling another spicy elixir from his bag. 

"I still think  _this_ idea is insane," Revali continues, though most of his focus seems to be on tying the cloth to the glider's frame. "But I know there's no talking you out of it. Just know that if you fall, I'm not going to catch you."

Link gives him a look that plainly says,  _yes you will,_ then speaks up as he discards the empty elixir bottle back into his bag for reuse later. "That's why you're making it, though, isn't it?" He says, his tone full of dry teasing. "So it won't break thanks to poor craftsmanship."

Revali glances up to glare at him, but even looking back without any other memories, Link can tell that there's no heat in it. "Of course it won't break," the Rito scoffs. "But that doesn't mean you'll keep your grip. And if you fall-"

"You'll catch me," Link says, without even a hint of doubt. 

Revali looks at him, eyes wide and beak hanging slightly open. "Yeah," he agrees quietly. "Of course I will." 

Link's mind returns to the present, where he sees Teba's white-feathered face leaning upside-down over him. Link blinks several times, and Teba grunts. "You back?" He demands gruffly. Link nods, sitting up and turning to look at the Rito, who extends a helping wing. Link takes it, and is struck with a flash of a memory of holding another Rito's wingtips before Teba pulls him into a standing position and lets go. "You lose your grip on your glider or something?" He asks, crossing his wings. "You seemed a little out of it for a minute after you fell. You hit your head?" 

"No," Link replies, looking from the fire inside to the glider in his hand.  _Revali made this._ "No, I just...remembered something." 

Teba raises a brow, but he isn't the type to press issues like this, apparently. "Well, if you're alright, then show me what you can do."

Link nods and takes off again, this time holding tightly to the glider that he now knows was made for him. As he draws his bow in midair, time seems to slow down as it always does when he shoots while gliding. This time, however, Link gets the feeling that this is a trick Revali gave him as well. Memories flicker quickly through his mind, and he resolves to visit them in detail later. 

With the trick Revali taught him and the glider Revali made for him, Link beats Teba's challenge with ease. He returns to the landing and gets Teba's promise to take him to Medoh, but Link tells the warrior to give him a day to prepare. He uses the Slate to travel back to Rito Village, arriving as the sun is beginning to set. Link climbs the steps to Revali's huse and, with a deep breath, pushes the blue curtain aside and enters. 

The windows face west, and the setting sun bathes the cottage in golden light. The Rito's preferred hammock hangs from the ceiling, but along another wall lies a Hylian-sized cot. Another wall holds a bow mount that surely once held Revali's beloved Great Eagle Bow. A low dresser sits behind the hammock. Link sits in the hammock and gazes out the window at the sunset before another memory comes to him. 

He's sitting in the same spot, but there is a warm body behind him and legs on either side of his hips. It's sunset in the memory, too, and Link remembers watching it with drooping eyes as Revali does something to his hair. His head falls forward slightly, and Revali tugs a little on his hair to get it back up. "Geez, are you really this sleep-deprived that you can't even let me finish your braid? I'm almost done."

"Mmm...it feels nice, though," Link hums, leaning farther back into Revalis chest and not seeing the way the Rito's expression softens to become even fonder. 

"Give me just a second to finish this, then we can go to sleep."

Link hums again, allowing Revali to push him forward so he can tie off Link's braid. Link is forced to look down as Revali works, and he sees unfamiliar clothes covering him. The clothes are incredibly soft and warm, but before he can process what they are or where they came from, Link feels something tickling the back of his neck before Revali uses hands on Link's shoulders to pull him back against his chest again. 

Link takes the opportunity to roll over, earning a grunt from Revali as Link's elbow digs into his abdomen. After a moment, they're lying down with Link's face pressed into Revali's chest. The memory fades, presumably because Link fell asleep, but he barely hears Revali mutter, "I love you," into Link's newly-braided hair. 

Link comes back to himself and feels suddenly cold in the too-empty hammock. He raises a hand to his face and realizes once again that his face is streaked with tears. 

He'd suspected it for a while, but now he finally knows for sure: he and Revali were in love. Without bothering to wipe the tears from his cheeks, Link swings his legs over the edge of the hammock and gets up to start rummaging through the dresser. He quickly finds what he's looking for in the top drawer -- the same clothes he was wearing in the memory. 

He changes into the soft tunic and trousers -- Snowquill, Revali had called them -- but he isn't sure where to start with the headdress. It isn't incredibly late yet, so he carries it out of the house and down to Teba's house. As he expected, Teba still isn't home, but his wife Sake is walking around, seeming to get ready for bed herself. Link knocks softly on the frame of the doorless house, and Saki looks up. "Descendant!" She says, coming towards him. "Did you manage to find Teba?"

"I did. I was hoping you could help me with this, though," he says, holding up the headdress in his hands. 

"Oh, is that Snowquill?" Saki asks, and Link nods. "Did you buy it down in the shop? I know it's sold for tourists, since we Rito don't really need it for cold protection."

"Ah...no. It was in the house up past the shrine. The Elder is letting me stay there," he says, hoping that he won't have to explain further. 

"Oh, so it was the Hylian Champion's!" Saki says, and Link nods, because she isn't wrong. "It fits you rather well. So you need help with the headdress?" Link nods, and Saki smiles kindly at him. "You should know that it's a rather intimate act for a Rito to do something like this," she explains, not unkindly. "I'll do it for you, because you probably don't have anyone else to show you how. Just be careful who you ask for something like this." 

"I'm sorry, I can-" Link begins, but Saki waves him off. 

"Nonsense. Come, sit," she says, indicating a place on the floor. Link moves into the house, handing the headdress off to Saki before turning around. He turns around to sit down with his back to her, and sees a sleeping Rito child in a hammock by the door. 

"Is that your son?" He asks, remembering Teba mentioning something about having a son earlier that day. 

"Yes, that's Tulin. He wants nothing more than to train to be a warrior with his father, but Teba worries about training him while Medoh is still so aggressive," Saki explains as she kneels behind Link and begins running a comb through his hair. She starts talking about what Tulin did today while he helped her with the shopping, and Link stays quiet and listens, trying not to fall asleep or cry again at the feeling of the headdress's decorations being braided into his hair. 

"Oh, these feathers..." Saki suddenly says, and Link looks over his shoulder to see her gingerly holding the three navy feathers that were set aside with the headdress. "Do you know which Rito gave them?" She asks, looking up at him, but as he looks into her eyes, Link knows that she already knows the answer. 

"Revali," he says, and she nods, allowing him to leave it at that as she motions for him to turn back around. Link does, and feels her insert the feathers into the braids just behind Link's ear.

"Alright, all done," she says, and he hears the floor creak as she stands. He follows suit, and turns around to find her by the dresser, pulling a looking glass from a drawer. "Take a look," she says, holding the mirror out to Link. He takes it, examining his reflection. His hair is pulled out of his face by two small braids that hang behind his ears, and the rest of it is braided so it falls over the back of his neck. Revali's feathers are visible behind his right ear, and a ruby hangs at the bottom of each of the three braids. 

"Thank you," Link says, handing her back the mirror. "I'm sorry for asking something like this of you, but it really does mean a lot to me." 

Saki smiles, waving off his apology. "Think nothing of it. Just make sure my husband comes home safely, alright?"

Link nods, and returns to Revali's home above the shrine. He climbs back into the hammock, still in full Snowquill, and falls asleep reliving the few memories he has of Revali. 

The next morning, he rises shortly after dawn and leaps once again from Revali's Landing to find Teba at the Flight Range. "I'm ready to go up to Medoh."

//

//

Riding on Teba's back is strange. Link may not have all his memories of his time with Revali, but he has a feeling that it would have been weird for him to ride on the back of another Rito. The whole situation is strange, but probably only to Link -- after all, Teba is both married and fully believes that Link is merely the descendant of the Hylian Champion who was intimate with Revali, and not the Champion himself. Besides, he only needs to be on Teba's back for the brief ride up -- once they reach Medoh, Link's paraglider is enough. 

In a way, it's like Revali is still supporting him through the glider, and the thought does make Link feel better. 

 _Sorry, Revali_ , he thinks as he fires bomb arrow after bomb arrow at Medoh's cannons, because Link gets the feeling that Revali wouldn't appreciate his Divine Beast getting shot at like this. These are extrenuating circumstances, though, so Link is sure he can be reasoned with. 

Teba nearly gets shot out of the sky for it, but they finally break past Medoh's defenses. And as Teba flies home for medical treatment, Link glides in to land on Medoh and activates the travel gate. Then he walks inside the Divine Beast. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there's rito village! obviously there was a bit more fluff this time around, and a bit more of a look into link and revali's history! if you liked it, let me know in the comments and by leaving kudos!
> 
> next time: medoh, told from revali's pov! that chapter is written, but i want to finish the one after it before i post it, and i'm having a bit of writer's block with it right now, so there might be a bit of a delay. as always, let me know if you liked this story by leaving kudos, comments, and bookmarking! it does give me a lot of motivation to write with every notification about this story that i get. see you next time, when we explore medoh!
> 
> EDIT: i have now replied to all the comments this story has gotten! i'll try to keep replying to comments, even if it doesn't happen in a timely manner. also, i changed the chapter numbering because it was annoying me that my chapters were titled "chapter two: chapter one: link." all the chapters are simply the name of whose pov the chapter is in!


	5. Revali

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note before we get started: although i normally try to keep dialogue different from the game and not include lines directly pulled from the game, most of the lines in the first parts of this chapter are actually pulled from the game. i felt it worked best with how my interpretation of revali would act while link cleared medoh, and i tried to add his perspective on things so it stayed interesting! i also actually had to write a fight scene for this chapter, so....we'll see how that turned out. enjoy!

Revali watches Link destroy Medoh's cannons and approach the Divine Beast with the Rito warrior. He isn't exactly unfamiliar -- even since Link woke up, Revali has kept an eye on the village, particularly their best warriors, as they fought off Medoh's attacks. Teba is a strong fighter, though Revali isn't ecstatic about Link riding on his back to get up here. But there are many personal issues that must be set aside in the name of winning a war, so Revali does. And as soon as Link lands on Medoh, he knows that he'll have to be professional and aloof as he helps Link through Medoh -- they can't let their relationship distract them, as it did last time. 

Revali stands at Link's shoulder as he activates the travel gate to Medoh and enters the Divine Beast, and when he speaks, Link looks around as if to find the source of his voice. When he turns, the Hylian's hand passes right through Revali's without Link even knowing, making Revali wince slightly, but he doesn't let his emotion seep into his tone. 

"I had a feeling you'd show up eventually," he says, tone haughty and aloof as he locks himself behind his old wall of self-confidence. "But making me wait a hundred years is a bit...indulgent." Link looks on the verge of tears, and Revali watches the Hylian's lips silently form his name. Revali has to turn away at the sight. They both have a job to do -- they can't let their personal struggles get in the way of freeing Medoh and, as an extension, the Rito people. How important are they, really, when the fate of Hyrule is at stake?

"You're here to wrest control of Medoh away from Ganon, correct?" He continues, keeping his tone professional and resolutely not allowing himself to look at Link. "If so, then the first thing you'll want to do is get yourself a map. That Guidance Stone has the information for the layout of this Divine Beast. Can you make it there?" The challenge at the end comes out instinctively, before Revali can stop it, and it brings countless memories of challenges exactly like it to the front of Revali's thoughts, only serving to remind him that Link likely remembers none of those moments. He doesn't check to see if there is any spark of recognition in Link's eyes. 

(There is.)

Link reaches the Guidance Stone with ease, using his glider to reach the other side of the room and obtain the map. Revali, still trying to remain professional and focused, doesn't bother complimenting Link on his success. 

(He doesn't want to admit it, but this is what Revali has always done when faced with something emotionally difficult: closed himself off and hidden behind harsh words, designed to scare whatever bothers him away so he can continue hiding behind his carefully-constructed walls. 

Link has never put up with it. Revali dimly wonders if that's changed since he's lost his memories, but the thought of Link's lost memory hurts too much for him to spend too much time on it.)

"The terminals that will activate Medoh are marked by those glowing points," Revali tells Link, staring resolutely at the slate in Link's hands rather than at his face. Selfishly, he's glad that Link cannot see him. "You'll need to activate all the terminals to take back control. Think you're up to it?"

Without anything else to do, Revali follows Link unseen through Medoh, only speaking when he activates each terminal. He feels himself regaining control of Medoh with each terminal Link activates, and his words become less harsh and his tone slightly more gentle with every terminal Link activates. 

However, he snaps back into cold professionalism with the last terminal, directing Link to the main terminal outside without even a single scathing remark. Link activates the terminal, waking Ganon's monster that lurked inside. Revali braces himself and warns Link of this thing's power, but because the beast defeated him a hundred years ago, beyond that there's nothing he can do to help Link, the love of his life, fight it now. 

Revali looks at Link's face for the first time since he walked in here, and he sees a kind of raw anger that he's never witnessed on his love's face before. "Avenge me, Link!" he says, and the Hylian Champion adjusts his grip on his sword. 

"I promise I will," Link growls, the first words he's truly spoken to Revali in over a century. And coming from someone whose words were once as sparse as water in the Gerudo Desert, Revali counts them as special. 

Link is forced on the defensive immediately, blocking and dodging until even Revali is out of breath just watching him, and he doesn't even have lungs. Link is soon sprinting from behind a column and dodging the beast's next shot by opening his glider over one of Medoh's air vents. The beast's shot goes far too low, and Revali cheers aloud as Link uses the method Revali once taught him to shoot the monster in midair. Link's shot fires true, hitting the beast directly in the eye and stunning it. Link takes his chance while it's down and glides over to it, swinging his sword down onto its prone form as he releases the glider and practically falls onto it. 

Link repeats this process two more times, though on the last time the monster, having adjusted to Link's strategy, nearly succeeds in shooting him down. After it gets up and Link runs behind a pillar to hide from its next attack, Revali sees its pattern change, and he knows what's about to happen. 

"Link!" He shouts, watching the scene unfold in horror, terrified that Link might be about to die the same way he did. "Watch out!"

Possibly thanks to his warning, Link sees the cannons flying to his side of the pillar to take him out, and he dives out of the way right before the pillar explodes, fired upon from all sides by the freely-floating cannons the monster just created. 

"Link," Revali says again, hovering over him, completely invisible but thankfully still able to be heard. "Those cannons are what killed me. Caught me by surprise, then couldn't avoid them." The smoke from the explosion is starting to clear, and Revali knows Link's only cover will disappear with it. "I'll keep an eye on things and warn you of the things you don't see. I'm sorry I can't do more than that." 

Link nods, looking around. At first Revali thinks Link is trying to find him, but then Link's head stops moving, staring somewhere to Revali's right. He follows Link's gaze to see one of Medoh's vents about twenty yards away. He immediately follows the other's thought process, and he turns to focus on the beast that's now hovering above the main terminal and looking around for Link. "Toss a rock to distract it," Revali tells him quietly, though he knows by now that the beast either can't hear him or can't understand him. "I'll keep an eye on it." 

A moment later, there's a clatter some ways away, and as soon as the beast moves toward it, Revali shouts, "Now!" Behind him, he hears Link sprinting for the vent. When Link is only about halfway there, he makes some kind of motion with the Sheikah Slate, and the thing he threw to distract the beast blows up in its face -- apparently that thing can create and detonate bombs somehow, and Link used that to his advantage. The time the monster takes to recover from the explosion allows Link to reach the vent, but the monster was on the edge of the blast radius and recovers quickly, turning its focus on Link. "He's looking your way!" Revali cries in warning, turning to look at Link, only to find him staring down the monster as its cannons move to surround him. 

"Link!" Revali screams, sounding more desperate than ever because what is that idiot  _doing,_ he's standing right on the vent and the cannons are surrounding him, he's going to get himself  _killed_ what is he  _thinking_ \--

But suddenly, right as the cannons are warming up to fire, Link opens his glider. He soars upward, and the cannons fire on each other. Revali's eyes widen as the explosions only make Link's updraft stronger, so soon he's soaring high above Medoh and already angling towards the beast as it's still looking up to find him. Link pulls out his bow as the monster roars, and he does the same move as before, shooting the monster in the eye before gliding down and landing a hard blow as he lands on the beast's chest. He produces a familiar-looking spear and scimitar from seemingly nowhere and works his way up to the beast's head, alternating between stabbing with the spear and slicing with the scimitar the whole way. 

Link sheaths the scimitar and holds the spear over the beast's eye. "This is for Revali," he growls, bringing the spear down to impale the monster's eye. Link holds it even as the beast thrashes beneath him and explodes in a cloud of black Malice, leaving Link standing there with the spear pointed at the ground. Finally able to see it in its entirety, Revali now knows why it looks so familiar: it's Mipha's Lightscale Trident, and the scimitar must be Urbosa's -- the Scimitar of the Seven, she called it. Revali knows they must be happy with their weapons being used to free the other Champions. 

Meanwhile, he feels all the power of Medoh filling him once again, and he's finally able to take a visible (if slightly green-tinted) form. "Well, I'll be plucked," he says, unable to keep the fondness and relief from his tone. "You actually defeated him, eh? Guess I'll have to thank you."

Link turns, and the Lightscale Trident clatters to the ground as he sees the Rito. "Revali," he breathes, his eyes wide. Revali watches him for a moment, thinking. He's seen Link react to different places in Rito Village, so he knows Link has remembered at least a few things. Revali can't, however, be sure of which memories Link recovered, or exactly how many Link has. Before he can decide whether or not to ask the question, though, Link answers it. 

"I remember you," he blurts out. "Or, well, I remember some things. I know that I loved you. I probably still do, somehow. I know that you loved me." He looks up, then, more hesitant than Revali's seen him since he woke up, with a question in his eyes. 

Revali answers it easily. "I still do," he says. "Always."

Link nods, a small smile on his face before he continues, and it falls as he talks. "I don't...I wish I remembered more. I wish I could relive all the happy memories we had, because I know we had them. I know that you made me happier than I'd ever been, and I know that I loved you more than anything." He's looking right at Revali now, tears streaming freely down his face, though Revali is still just barely managing to hold back his own. "I wish I had never gone to sleep."

A few tears escape Revali's eyes then, which is odd, because this isn't even a real body, but somehow he's crying anyway. He stares at Link for a moment, then laughs softly, shaking his head. "You know, that might be the most I've ever heard you say at once," he says, and Link blinks in surprise. "You hardly spoke a hundred years ago. Many people believed you to be mute, but you weren't. You could speak, but you chose not to thanks to the pressure of being the princess's knight. You feared saying the wrong thing, so you said nothing at all. When we were in public, even Zelda and I could barely get a complete sentence out of you. But you always were more talkative when we were alone. I always figured that was a sign that you trusted me," he explains, his voice soft.

"But I don't know that this whole 'new Link' thing is so entirely horrible," he continues in a stronger tone. "I love you, and I love that you don't have to fear speaking your mind anymore. 

Link is silent for several moments, finally taking out the Sheikah Slate and flipping through the pictures Zelda left for him. Revali comes a little closer, and Link angles the Slate so he can see it. It's a picture of the shrine at the Ancient Columns, but Revali wasn't there when the picture was taken -- he and Link never went there together, actually -- so he doesn't know what memory is associated with it. 

"Zelda shouted at me here," Link explains, clearing up Revali's confusion. "I guess it was only shortly after we first met? I'm not sure. But she didn't want me following her -- she wanted to be left alone. I think I was just trying to do my duty as her appointed knight, but she seemed to resent me for it. I'm not sure what I did to upset her." Revali opens his mouth to tell Link that Zelda spent months refusing to cooperate with him and hating him for things he couldn't control, but Link is continuing before he can speak. "But even the bad memories make me who I am," he says, clutching the Slate tightly. "I know I'm never going to be exactly the same as I was before, but I still feel like I have a right to my own memories, don't I?"

Revali can only sigh, and nod. "Can't argue with that, I suppose." A comfortable silence falls between them, until he clears his throat and breaks it with a brave attempt at a return to professionalism, clasping his feathers behind his back importantly as he walks away from Link. "But I'd like to give you something. As a spirit I have no use for it: my unique gift, Revali's Gale." With that, he turns and sends his ability across to Link with a flourishing motion of his wings. 

the orb enters Link's chest, and a wind forms beneath him, so that he floats for a moment before seemingly instinctively launching himself into a backflip and sticking the landing. Revali rolls his eyes, then hesitates when he sees Link's widen. Half a heartbeat passes, and the Hylian falls to his knees, breathing heavily. 

"Really, Link," Revali says, ready to get Link and all the pain that comes with him out of here. "I though you had better balance than-"

"I remember," Link chokes, interrupting Revali. 

"W-What?" Revali asks, hardly daring to hope. 

"I remember you, Revali," Link breathes, standing up and walking forward. "When you gave me your gift, it's like...it's like you gave me our memories back, too. It happened with Mipha and Urbosa, too. I remember  _us_." Link reaches him, and raises his hands to cup Revali's face in an all-too-familiar gesture --

Only to have his hands phase right through Revali's beak. 

The sounds of their hearts breaking is echoed in the raw sob that tears itself from Link's lips as he continues trying to touch Revali only to have his hands pass right through. He falls to his knees, and Revali kneels with him, wishing he had better comofrt to offer. "I'm dead, Link," Revali says, as gently as he can, while Link buries his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with sobs. "I'll be able to stay to fight Ganon, but then...the other Champions and I, we'll have to move on. We just...don't belong here anymore."

"It's not fair," Link says, and Revali sighs. 

"I wondered if it'd have been less cruel for you to not remember," he begins, looking down at his knees. 

"No," Link's voice cuts him off, and the force in it has Revali looking up to see the Hylian glaring at him. "I'm glad I remembered. I would never choose to forget you." Revali feels tears welling up in his eyes and wants to look away, but he knows Link would rather him hold his gaze, so Revali does. "I want to remember," Link insists. "And yes, eventually I will move on, but you're here now. I don't want our last time together to be full of regrets. I will grieve for you, Revali, because I love you. I'll never stop loving you. So don't ever think that I would ever choose to lose a single part of this," he finishes, a hand clutching his chest as if to indicate his own heart. 

Revali is fully crying now, but he can tell that Medoh is preparing to teleport Link away so they can get ready for the final fight with Ganon. "I love you too. We don't have long," he adds, wiping his tears. "I'll always be with you, alright? Every time you use my gift, remember that it's me, that I'm the wind that lets you fly." Link is disappearing now, a glowing golden light wrapping around hi and starting to lift him into the air. 

"Revali, I love you," he calls, reaching out a hand.

Revali reaches out, and his wingtips brush Link's hand as it disappears -- neither of them feel it, and it'll never be enough, but it's all they have. It's all they'll ever have. "Go, save the princess. I'll be with you every step of the way," Revali tells him. "Farewell, my love," he breathes, as Link disappears completely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: this chapter and the last one are both ~3k words, and the first two (not counting the prologue) were each about 1500. and the next chapter looks like it'll be even longer than the 3k ones! 
> 
> as always, please leave comments and kudos if you liked it! the next two chapters are giving me a lot of trouble and your comments give me tons of motivation and help me fight writer's block better than anything else does! i'm a little worried that this chapter reads a little awkwardly, so let me know what you think of it too. remember to leave kudos, comments, and bookmarks if you liked it so you can help me through my writer's block and get a new chapter faster!


	6. Link

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update, you guys! this chapter and the next gave me a lot of trouble, but i've finally finished them both. the next chapter will be posted once i finish writing chapter eight! i've also been pretty busy since i work two jobs and am in university, so please continue to be patient with me! to make up for it, this is a SUPER long chapter. i considered splitting it into two, but i like 10 total chapters better than 11. 
> 
> speaking of, notice the new chapter count! it's gone up from 9 to 10, because this chapter was originally supposed to just be a quick little flashback and just. expanded to the longest chapter of the fic lmao. so i increased the chapter count! we're officially more than halfway done, and thanks so much to everyone who's reading and enjoying this fic!

Link appears back on Revali’s Landing, his arm still outstretched. He lowers it slowly and looks up to Medoh, watching as she flies to Rito Village and rests on the perch hanging over it. A red beam of light shoots from her beak, a laser targeting Ganon and joining those from the southwest and the east in their focus on Hyrule Castle, as Medoh and her pilot settle in for their last stretch of waiting before Ganon’s defeat.

Link stares up at the Divine Beast for several minutes longer than necessary before walking off the landing and up the stairs to the Elder’s house. He goes through that conversation on autopilot, only speaking once to assure the old Rito that Medoh is now back on their side and won’t attack anyone but Ganon.

“Well, that’s wonderful news,” the Elder says. “But I’ll make sure no one gets too close to it, just in case.” Link nods his agreement, not feeling he has the emotional capacity to speak right now. “You seem tired, Descendant,” Kaneli notes, then gestures to a chest on his right. “But please, before you go to take your well-deserved rest, take this token of my gratitude for freeing my people. I’ve thought over it, and I believe this should belong to you.” 

Link moves to the chest and opens it, a soft gasp escaping him as he sees the bow inside. He recognizes it instantly – in almost all of Link’s newly-recovered memories, this bow is on Revali’s back or in his hands. The few times it wasn’t on his person – always when he’s at home, when Link is the only one around – it’s always nearby, so he can get to it quickly. It’s like Link used to be with that sword he hasn’t found yet – in all of his (still woefully incomplete) memories, the sword is on his back, in his hands, or within easy reach. He supposes that he and Revali weren’t the best warriors of their people for nothing. 

Link holds the bow gently, knowing that it, along with the few other things he has from Revali, has instantly become one of his most prized possessions. “Thank you,” he manages to say to the Elder as he stands up, but he knows he has to leave now. The savior of Hyrule can’t be seen crying over a bow. Link nods to Kaneli as he hurries from the house, passing Teba on the way out. He knows Teba probably wants to talk to him, but he can wait. Link has been through enough today. 

He makes it to Revali’s house and makes sure all the curtains are closed before collapsing onto the cot, one hand clutching Revali’s Great Eagle Bow as he curls in on himself and finally takes the time to go through and examine his new memories. 

He knows now that it took them at least several months to get from where they started – from being some kind of rivals, be it one-sided or not, to falling in love. Some of the early memories have backdrops of late summer, then there are some with winter scenery and a few in the spring. 

They only met a little more than half a year before the return of Calamity Ganon. Link already had that memory, of Revali introducing himself and taunting Link for being stuck on the ground. The first new memory comes immediately after that, and involves Link removing his own cloak and holding it over his head in an imitation glider before jumping into the remains of Revali’s self-generated updraft. He soars upward on it and dimly hears Zelda shout his name from below. Still far above him, Revali turns at the noise and lets out a surprised shout of his own at the sight of Link swaying beneath a cloak in the middle of the sky. The Rito dives just as Link loses one hand’s grip on the cloak and lets out a shocked scream as he starts to fall. Revali reaches him within a second and grips Link’s shoulders in his talons, which hurts, but at least he isn’t falling to his death. 

Revali guides them back to the landing, releasing Link a few feet above the ground and letting him drop and land on his feet. “What kind of idiot are you?” Revali demands as he lands in front of Link and shakes out his feathers, seeming to stretch his wings as he does. Behind him, Zelda is already running onto the landing, followed by the Rito Elder and several other Rito. 

Link merely shrugs in response to Revali’s rude question. “You said I couldn’t do it. Figured I’d at least try.” 

Revali stares at him, beak hanging open. “Oh my Goddess,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re an idiot. A total idiot.” Zelda reaches them at that moment, and Revali shakes his head again as he walks away, leaving Zelda interrogating Link about whatever it was that just happened. 

//

//

“There’s apparently a labyrinth that hides a shrine north of the mountains,” Zelda tells Link and Revali the next day. “I would like to investigate, but I must admit that I probably shouldn’t go alone. Of course Link should come, but I wonder if we’ll also need a Rito to come as a guide.”

“The road goes right through a couple villages and straight up to the labyrinth, but I would still recommend bringing another warrior with you,” Revali replies with a nod, looking over Zelda’s shoulder at the map on her Sheikah Slate. “As the best of the best, I am of course the only option.”

Zelda nods, already looking back at the Sheikah Slate, presumably to continue plotting out their path on the map. “Then we’ll set out tomorrow.” 

Link has no memories of his preparation for the journey – his memories jump to the next time he sees Revali, when the Rito meets Link and Zelda at the stable the next morning. Link's new memories only skim quickly through the first half of that day, as Revali flies high above them while Zelda and Link ride along the path. They stop briefly for lunch, during which Zelda interrogates Revali about the local plant and animal life. 

“It’s incredible how so much life thrives here despite the cold,” she babbles, probably mostly to herself. “there is research being done at the castle about how to harness these properties through cooking. It’s interesting how most cold-dwelling species give us elixirs and dishes that resist heat, while hot-dwelling species help us resist the cold. You’d expect it to be the other way around, since cold-dwelling species have systems developed to thrive in the cold and vice versa, but upon thinking about it more I suppose this way makes sense too. But it is unfortunate that you can’t find many ingredients for spicy elixirs around here, which is why Link and I had to pack so many.”

“At least you’ve got those warm clothes to protect you,” Revali notes, gesturing to the princess’s fluffy garb. “Link’s only using the elixirs.” Link only shrugs as Revali looks at him, and he uncorks an elixir from his bag. As he looks back, the current Link realizes that this argument about the elixirs must have been a recurring thing for him and Revali, since it happened this early in their relationship. 

His memories jump ahead again, once more skimming through the rest of the day when Revali flies ahead until they reach a village. 

Rito prefer higher land than this snowfield, but there are several Rito merchants around, despite the town being mostly Hylians. It takes them a moment to recognize the princess, as many of them have never seen her in person before, but they immediately know Revali, and he introduces Link and Zelda. There is instantly a clamor to meet, feed, and house the princess and her small party, and Link spends the evening trying to stay at the edge of the crowds surrounding Zelda, but still at a distance where he’s close enough to jump in and protect her at the first sign of danger. 

(He doesn’t know it, but Revali notices Link’s discomfort, and he also notes for the first time how much Link is sacrificing for the sake of his duty as the princess’s sworn knight.)

Finally, Link, Zelda, and Revali are settled into the spare room of the village’s largest home – the town is too small to have an inn or a formal chief, and the house is really only slightly larger than the others around it, but the woman housing them seems to have a lot of respect among the villagers, and she introduced herself to them as Sofi when they first entered her home. As she serves rabbit stew for dinner, she brings up a problem. 

“There have been attacks lately. Monster attacks,” she says. “They come at night to raid our larders and steal our food. We don’t have any trained soldiers, and anyone who’s gone against them has only narrowly escaped death. With winter nearing, we have to do something soon. I hate to ask, but we’re desperate. Is there anything you can do to help?”

“Of course,” Zelda says. “Do you know if the monsters are coming tonight?”

“It’s certainly possible,” Sofi replies, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. “We haven’t been able to track any pattern in their appearances, but we may be able to bait them if we leave meat on a spit.”

“Link, Revali,” Zelda says, turning to them. "As Champions of Hyrule, it is your duty to protect the people of this land. Will you both help to rid this village of monsters?“

Link nods, while Revali says, "of course, Princess.”

Zelda nods, turning back to Sofi. “Great. We probably still have time to get ready.”

“The monsters always come at midnight, when the moon is highest,” Sofi says, and Zelda hums. 

“Then we shall begin preparing at once,” the princess says, standing up. Link and Revali follow suit, setting aside their bowls. “Champions, prepare for battle. Sofi and I will ready the bait.”

An hour later, Link and Revali sit by a fire in the center of the village, the villagers and Zelda all safely locked in their homes as the moon creeps higher in the sky. Link pokes idly at the roasting meat, straining his ears for the sound of approaching monsters as Revali watches the sky. When the moon reaches its peak, Link hears the garbled voices of Bokoblins and Moblins, splattering gibberish at each other. He rests a hand on the hilt of the Master Sword, which lays next to him on the ground. At the same time, Revali readies his bow and subtly notches an arrow. From the monsters’ viewpoint, they’ll still look like they’re just hunched over the fire, their weapons not immediately visible. The Champions’ eyes meet, and they nod at each other as the sounds of the monsters get ever closer. 

Link hears snow crunch behind him and whirls around, swinging his sword and catching a Bokoblin in the side with the blade. Behind him, he feels a rush of wind as Revali uses his Gale to take off, and arrows pierce the heads of three of the monsters advancing on Link, and they fall as one. 

There aren’t that many, really, and within moments there is only one Bokoblin left, and it runs for the edge of the village. “Wait!” Link calls to Revali as he draws his bowstring. “Let’s follow it. There may be more at their base.” Revali just stares at him for a moment, and Link suddenly realizes that this is only the second time he’s ever directly spoken to the Rito Champion. 

“Alright,” Revali finally says, landing in front of Link and kneeling in the snow, his back to the Hylian. “Get on. You’ll never be able to keep up on foot.” Link hardly hesitates before clambering onto Revali’s back and holding tightly to the strap of the Rito’s bag, not wanting to pull out his feathers. They take off, and although the effects of his last spicy elixir still course through him, the chill of the wind is still biting in its cold, and Link shivers on Revali’s back, barely able to see through the wind making his eyes tear up. 

When they finally start to descend, Link squints down to the ground and sees the blue of the Bokoblin disappear into a large rounded rock. Revali lands on top of it, allowing his footsteps to be muffled by the snow as Link slips off his back. They can hear the garbled language of monsters talking below them, confirming that there are in fact more. 

“Alright, you go down and around the side, and I’ll shoot into the entrance to drive them out to you.”

Link nods before sliding down the side of the rock and sneaking around the front before crouching just next to the entrance. The rock, he sees now, is actually shaped like a skull, and Link hopes that he can’t be seen from the eyes, which are open as windows. 

He looks up to see Revali in the sky, and gives him a thumbs up. The arrow Revali fires has orange sparks on the end – a fire arrow – and almost immediately after it soars through the skull’s eye, an explosion rocks the ground. There must have been bomb barrels inside, and Link grins at Revali’s use of the monsters’ own defense system against them. Link’s ears ring from the blast, but a Bokoblin soon runs out, still on fire. With a swing of his sword, Link lobs its head off. The surviving monsters continue to run outside to escape the fire, where they are killed by Link’s sword or Revali’s arrows. 

“Link, roll!” Revali’s voice cuts through the ringing at one point, and Link, who has always been trained to trust his allies without question, rolls to his left immediately. A Moblin coming up behind him swings its club into the head of the Bokoblin Link was fighting, and a well-placed shock arrow from Revali sends them both to the ground, twitching at the electricity coursing through them. 

A moment later, Link sees a Bokoblin on a platform nearby – clearly meant to serve as a lookout – aiming its own bow towards Revali. On instinct, Link grabs a dropped Boko spear from the snow and throws it at the Bokoblin’s head – the spear embeds itself in the side of the monster’s head, and it falls off the platform and into the snow.

The monsters are all dead soon after that, and Revali lands in front of Link, who is wiping the Master Sword of blood with the tunic of a fallen Bokoblin. “You’re actually not a bad fighter,” Revali says, and Link knows even then that that is high praise from the Rito Champion. 

Revali flies them back to the village, and they make it just before sunrise. The village rises when they return, and Zelda and Sofi emerge first, smiling at the Champions. “I’m so glad you’re both safe,” Sofi says. “Was the mission a success?”

“We’ve taken care of your little monster problem,” Revali replies, and Link nods. “Though I’m afraid whatever was left of your supplies must have been blown up in the battle. There were bomb barrels in their base, and we used everything available to us to defeat them.” 

“That’s still wonderful news,” Sofi insists with a grin. “We still have a few weeks until winter hits in full force, so we should be able to replenish our food stores before the blizzard season hits,” the woman finishes. 

“Still, if you’re ever in need of assistance,” Revali speaks up, his tone losing its usual haughty quality. Without it, he sounds like a leader, like a Champion. “Contact Rito Village. There is no need for anyone in this area to starve when we have plenty of resources to last even past the winter. I’m sure the chief wouldn’t object to sharing supplies or even providing shelter to you and your people, should it come to that.”

Link can’t help but smile slightly as Sofi thanks Revali profusely. It seems that try as he might to hide behind a cold demeanor and harsh words, Revali truly does seem to have the heart of a Champion. 

//  
//

The rest of the trip is rather uneventful, though they do find a Lynel guarding the entrance to the labyrinth. Once he’s found a safe place for Zelda to hide, Link rushes into battle alongside Revali. The fight is actually  _fun,_ and Link lets out a loud whoop of victory as the creature finally falls. 

Zelda comes out from her hiding place as Link and Revali loot the spoils from the dead Lynel. “That was quite the battle,” she comments as she approaches, and they both send her the kinds of manic grins that can only be achieved by true warriors after a good fight. 

“Here, Link,” Revali says, holding out the Lynel’s beautifully crafted bow, which the beast surely stole at some point. “Mine is perfect already, so I have no need for a new one.”

Despite his nonchalance, Link knows that this is an important gesture from the Rito, so he responds in kind. “Thank you, Revali,” he says, and he knows it’s the first time he’s ever said the Rito’s name aloud. “Perhaps one day you can show me how to use it.”

//  
//

The labyrinth itself is hardly a challenge with a Rito on their side. Zelda initially wants to go through it as they’re meant to, but after hardly an hour they’re sufficiently lost and exhausted. Finally, Revali takes them up one at a time, so they can walk along the tops of the walls. At least now they can see where they’re going. Eventually they have to go back down to make a camp for the night, and Link remembers thinking it the creepiest place he’s ever tried to sleep. 

He finally rises from his cot and moves to the fire, where Revali is keeping watch. They ran into a couple Lizalfos in the maze that day, so they all felt better taking shifts for watch. “Couldn’t sleep?” Revali asks, looking up from polishing his bow, and Link shakes his head. “I understand,” Revali continues, apparently already getting used to how he has to lead conversations with Link. “This place is creepy.” 

Link nods, and Revali returns to his bow. A comfortable silence settles over them as Link watches him polish, but Link finds that for the first time in months, he wants to break it. 

(In retrospect, that’s probably the moment he realized there was something different about Revali – he made Link want to talk, want to share his stories and his thoughts without fear for the first time in the year since he drew the sword from its pedestal.)

Link spends the next few minutes taking subtle deep breaths, silently breaking down the walls that he himself built, in order to speak to Revali directly, outside the context of battle. “Have you always lived in Rito Village?” He finally blurts, and Revali looks up, staring at Link with blank shock for a moment before he seems to snap himself out of it enough to answer. 

“Yes,” he nods, questions in his eyes as he looks at Link, who is grateful when Revali ignores his own curiosity as he continues. Link doesn’t really feel like trying to explain his whole revelation about wanting to talk to Revali, so he’s glad when the Rito doesn’t push for an explanation. “My father was apparently a warrior, but he died defending the village from monsters,” Revali is saying, and Link listens intently – that, at least, has always been something he’s good at. “The grief took my mother not long after. I was only a child.”

“I’m sorry,” Link says, only just audible over the crackling of the fire. 

Revali nods appreciatively, but waves him off. “Don’t be. The Elder raised me after that. His wife passed before I was born, and he has no children of his own." Link smiles – he can tell that there is a lot of love between Revali and the Elder, and he’s glad the Rito grew up with such a strong father figure. Revali looks at Link then, and though he doesn’t voice it, Link can see the question in his eyes.  _What about you?_  He isn’t pressuring Link into speaking, which is nice, but Link feels it only fair that he share his past as well. 

“I was born in Deya Village,” he says, and in the present, Link thinks of that village near the Dueling Peaks that he felt compelled to name his horse after. He silently resolves to revisit the ruins once he’s done in the north before returning his focus to his memories. “My father was a soldier for the kingdom,” Link is saying in the memory. “And my mother died from disease when I was very young. I…don’t have many memories of her,” he says, and in the present, Link silently laments that he’s lost the few memories of his mother that he apparently once had. If she died that long ago, it’s unlikely he’ll ever be able to recover them. 

“I’m sorry,” Revali says quietly, echoing Link’s words to him earlier, and instead of waving the apology off, Link nods solemnly. 

“Thank you. When my father was busy with work, I spent a lot of time following him around and learning about being a warrior,” Link continues, and Revali speaks up. 

“I heard you defeated trained soldiers in duels when you were only four years old,” he says, and Link nods again, a sheepish smile coming onto his face. 

“I was just always good at being a swordsman. I spent my childhood in training to be a knight, and when I was thirteen, I was sent to the Lost Woods to meet the Great Deku Tree and try to get the sword. There were a couple more years of training under the Deku Tree, and then I was able to pull the sword.”

“What kind of training did you do under a tree?” Revali asks, brows furrowed in confusion. 

Link shrugs. “Mostly I was just supposed to help people. Tests of the heart and all that. I didn’t always understand him, but I learned a lot.” He changes his position, uncrossing his legs and extending them in front of him so he can lean back on his palms. “Shortly after that I went to the castle to present the sword, and the king named me Zelda’s guardian knight and Champion. You know the rest, I guess.”

Revali nods, and silence settles over them once more, until a few minutes later, when the Rito speaks. “You know, after fighting with you, I think you might actually stand a chance against Ganon. Your archery could use some work, but we can work on that. You’ll have the best archer in the land as your teacher, after all,” he adds, a familiar haughty tone reentering his voice as he brags, and Link chuckles as Revali continues. “Of course, the plan is still ridiculous. We’ve got four powerful weapons in the Divine Beasts, and they should be more than support. But you’ve got my support now either way, Link.” He waves a hand in the direction of Link’s cot. “Now get some sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s your turn for watch."

Link smiles and does what he says, settling in his cot and falling asleep with a smile on his face. 

//  
//

After that trip, Link and Revali start getting along much better, though Link and Zelda soon have to leave Rito Village to go visit the other Champions. “You’re going to Gerudo Town? But Link won’t even be able to get in!” Revali exclaims, but Zelda looks dismissive and Link only shrugs. 

“We need to go visit Champion Urbosa,” Zelda says matter-of-factly, not looking up from her Sheikah Slate. “There’s nothing to be done. Besides, we’re going to Goron City first.”

Revali raises an eyebrow at Zelda’s curt response, but thankfully doesn’t say anything. He escorts them to Rito Stable when it comes time for them to leave, and sees them off as they ride away down the road. Link distinctly remembers feeling silently sad that they have to leave, that he can’t spend more time with Revali. It is those feelings that clue him in to the fact that he probably likes Revali as more than a fellow warrior and friend, and he decides that it might be for the best that he doesn’t stay with the Rito for a while. 

//  
//

The next memory Link has – that is, the next time he sees Revali – is clearly months later. Areas that were previously showing slowly dying grass are now covered in snow, and Link has a new scar on his arm that wasn’t there before. The memory starts with him riding his horse (though he can’t remember her name, he knows that she was an incredible mare) around the canyon to Revali’s Flight Range, and Link shivers endlessly because  _of course_  he only had one elixir made. He passes a shrine that the current Link can travel to instantly, but that in the past was just as dark and cold as the area around it. 

As he approaches the ladder up to the platform, a familiar voice calls out: “Who goes there? Don’t move or I’ll shoot,” Revali says, his voice full of force. 

Link glares up at him, wishing his teeth would stop chattering. “If you h-hurt m-m-my h-h-horse I’ll h-hurt y-you. N-n-now l-let me up, R-Revali,” he stammers. “It’s f-f-freezing.”

“Link? Revali asks, his voice suddenly full of concern. Link sees him lower his bow and gets off his horse, guiding her to stand under the platform Revali is on so that she’s out of the wind. He then climbs the ladder and finally enters the area that’s blissfully warmed by the fire in the center. “Goddess, Link, you’re like ice,” Revali comments as he wraps a blanket around Link’s trembling shoulders and guides him to the fire in the center of the small room. Link lets himself believe that he only leans into the Rito’s touch to get closer to his warmth and not for any other reason. “Did you not pack elixirs?” You know it gets colder at night,” Revali is babbling as Link sits down, and if Link didn’t know any better he would think that Revali’s usual snarky tone was hiding an undercurrent of worry. 

Link looks away from him with a huff. “No, I forgot to make more,” he admits quietly. 

Revali snorts and shakes his head. “We’ve got to get you some Snowquill before your poor memory gets you killed,” he says, and like he always does when memories are mentioned, the present Link flinches at Revali’s word choice. “So what are you doing here, anyway?” Revali continues once Link focuses again on the memory. “Does the princess need me for another ceremony or something?”

“No,” Link says, shaking his head. “Urbosa suggested I come here, since Zelda wants some space from me for a while, and Urbosa can escort her on her surveys in the desert and then back to the castle.”

“But why come here?” Revali presses, and Link shrugs and looks away, hoping the red on his cheeks isn’t noticeable in the firelight. 

“I don’t know. Urbosa suggested it. Thought we might enjoy training together or something,” he says quickly. When he catches sight of Revali’s raised eyebrows, he hurriedly changes the subject. “Like I said, Urbosa will escort Zelda back to the castle after she finishes her surveys in the desert, and I’ll meet her there in two weeks.” 

“I understand the princess not liking you, since I didn’t like you at first either,” Revali begins, and Link laughs, hitting him lightly in the shoulder. Revali leans away, a grin sparkling in his eyes as he continues. “But now she’s actively preventing you from doing your job,” he adds seriously. “And that’s really not fair.” 

Link shrugs, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders and missing the warmth of Revali’s wing around him. “It’s not that bad. I think she was getting better about it by the time I left, but she probably needs some time to think about it. I think Urbosa will probably convince her by the time I see her again,” he says, and Revali nods. Link can tell he’s still wondering why Link came here instead of anywhere else, but thankfully he doesn’t ask again. Link is already mortified enough that Zelda and Urbosa have figured out his little crush on Revali – he doesn’t need Revali himself knowing too. 

“Well since you’re here I’m going to make you some Snowquill. Goddess knows you need it,” Revali says, and Link’s heart skips a beat. Gifts, especially handmade ones, carry  lot of meaning in both Rito and Hylian culture – specifically, romantic meaning, and hope flares in his chest for the first time since he realized his little crush. 

“You don’t have to–” he begins, but Revali waves him off, looking away. The Rito actually seems a little embarrassed, but his tone is as brash as ever. 

“Of course I do. There’s no reason for you to buy it, and it’s not like it’s hard to make. I learned as a child. Besides, it’ll be better than you freezing all the time,” Revali says, looking away from Link and instead poking at the fire with a metal poker. Link watches him, blinking as he realizes he was right – Revali is embarrassed. The spark of hope in Link’s chest expands to a small flame. 

“Actually,” he says, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket and handing it to Revali. On it is a crude drawing of an idea he had for a glider. “I was wondering if you could help me make this. You’ve made bows before, right? But I’ve never worked wood, and I think a glider would only work as a cloth suspended between wooden handles.” Revali looks over Link’s notes, his eyebrows raised as Link continues. “Remember when I tried to go after you with that cloak? I think it could really work if it had a more stable handle.”

Revali stares at him for a moment, then shakes his head incredulously, looking down between Link and the drawing in his hands. “That’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk, and it’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard,” he finally replies. 

“It could work!” Link insists. “And with your Gale and the updrafts here, it’d be easy to test it,” he says, and Revali makes a waving gesture to calm him down. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll help. If only because I know you’ll try it whether I help you or not, and you’ll be better off with my help. Which is true for anything, of course,” he adds in the familiar haughty tone, and Link laughs and lightly shoves his shoulder again. 

//  
//

Many of Link’s memories of the next few days are similar to the one he remembered when he initially tried to glide at the Flight Range: he and Revali spent much of those few days at the Flight Range as Revali built Link’s glider and refused to let Link help, with the excuse that Link doesn’t know what he’s doing and would only mess it up. 

Link focuses on the memory of Revali presenting him with the finished glider, looking more nervous than Link has ever seen him. “Link,” he begins, holding the glider gingerly in his hands. “Please accept this as a gift of courtship,” he says, his nerves clear even through the confident tone of his voice. “Even if you don’t accept my courtship, I hope you will accept the glider, since it was your crazy idea in the first place,” he finishes quickly, shifting nervously on his feet. 

Link is frozen for a moment by his own surprise and nerves, but with a deep breath he moves forward and takes the glider from Revali’s hands as he steps in close. “I accept both,” he says quietly, pressing a kiss to the end of Revali’s beak. 

Link can’t help but laugh a little at the look on Revali’s face as he pulls away, wondering if Rito can blush under their feathers. “Come on,” he says, gently taking Revali’s wingtip in his hand and tugging him to the flight platform. “Use your Gale so I can try this out.” There is no need for Revali’s power here at the Flight Range, where the canyons are full of updrafts, and they both know that, but it feels important that they do this together. 

They step to the edge of the platform and face each other, Link holding the glider at the ready as Revali kneels in front of him, keeping eye contact with Link as he summons his power. Link’s hair swirls around him as an updraft forms, and at the same moment that Revali jumps into the air, Link raises the glider over his head and soars. He rises faster than Revali initially, but the Rito soon catches up, and they swirl around each other in the air, Link grinning broadly and whooping at the rush of both flying and knowing for sure that Revali returns his feelings. They spend much of the rest of that day and the next in the sky, sharing every moment they can together. 

//  
//

The next few days are spent practicing gliding and archery (both midair and on the ground) while Revali makes Link’s Snowquill armor. Revali actually lets Link help on this one, but never for long. Link’s fast-paced, slightly messy work gets on his nerves, since he insists on being slow and methodical with every stitch. 

The memory of Revali finishing the Snowquill – another Link already had – happens a few days before Link has to leave. He already delayed his departure by a few days on Revali’s insistence that he could fly Link back to Hyrule Castle, but even flying, they’ll still need three days to get there. Apparently, though, the stable system was connected across Hyrule a hundred years ago, too, as Link was able to pay several days prior for his horse to be taken back to Castle Town without him. 

While Link relives the sleepy memory for a second time, Link realizes that this was the first time Revali ever said he loved him. This time, Link also remembers that upon waking, the first thing he did was say it back. 

//  
//

Their travels back to the castle are relaxing. Link wears his new armor the whole way there to fight the wind chill, and they spend the journey exchanging stories of the mischief they each got up to as children. The stories help Link regain a handful of memories of his childhood friend, Saria, as well as of his father, which he appreciates greatly. 

“I see Urbosa and the princess on the road to the southwest,” Revali says as they approach the town. “I’ll drop you off at the gate there, and Zelda can meet you so you can go in together.”

As they approach the ground, Link slides from Revali’s back and opens his glider to slow his descent, so that Revali won’t have to worry about making a gentle landing. After much trial and error over the last few days, they discovered that this is the easiest way to land when Link rides on Revali’s back. Revali lands first, and Link drops close to him, putting the glider away and looking up into the Rito’s eyes. “Listen,” he begins with a sigh, knowing that though he doesn’t want to have this conversation, it’s one that must happen. 

“I know,” Revali says, holding up a wing to stop Link and taking him by surprise. “We should focus on beating Ganon. I’ve been considering it, and I think we should put our courtship on hold until Ganon has been defeated. And after that…I was hoping to ask you to become my intended.” Link’s eyes widen, and Revali puts his hands on Link’s shoulders. “Think about it. I wouldn’t formally ask with Ganon still looming over us, but I didn’t want to completely spring it on you, either.”

Link, regardless of the fact that Urbosa and Zelda can clearly see them from down the path, throws his arms around Revali’s waist and presses his head into the Rito’s chest. “I don’t need to think about it,” he replies. “The answer is yes. The answer will always be yes.” 

He feels Revali’s chest rise in a deep breath as he wraps his wings around Link’s shoulders, and Link knows that they’re both trying hard not to cry. “After the battle,” Revali says, pulling back and opening his eyes to meet Link’s, who nods. 

“After we’ve won.”

“Of course we’ll win, I’m on this side,” Revali replies, though it sounds less confident than usual. 

//  
//

Almost two months later, they stand at the gate of Lanayru Promenade, Ganon roaring around the castle in the distance. As Urbosa tries to convince Zelda to find somewhere safe to hide, Link and Revali stand to the side, staring at each other as if it’s the last chance they’ll get. 

(It is.)

“Be safe out there,” Link whispers, wrapping his arms around Revali’s waist and laying his head on the Rito’s chest. They’ve never made their courtship a secret among the other Champions, but, partly to spare Mipha’s feelings and partly out of professionalism, they’ve never been public with their affection either. But this is a desperate time, after all, so they have no problems setting aside their reservations. 

Revali’s wings wrap around Link in a safe, feathery cocoon, and Link swallows around a lump in his throat, wondering if this will be the last embrace they’ll ever share. 

(It will be.)

“Stay alive, Link,” Revali says, his voice tight. “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Link replies, pulling back to look at Revali. “After the battle,” he says, and the words are a promise. 

“After we’ve won,” Revali echoes. 

(They lose.)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that gliding scene is definitely inspired by rewrite the stars from the greatest showman ok i LOVE that scene it's so beautiful and the song itself doesnt really apply to link and revali but it is one of my favorite songs so whatever
> 
> if anyone's interested, this chapter is over 6,000 words -- that's the same length as chapters 4 and 5 combined!
> 
> im not sure how long it'll be until the next chapter, so be sure to leave kudos and comments to give me encouragement to continue writing! we've actually passed 50 kudos and 350 hits (at the time of posting this, there are 388 hits and 57 kudos!), and those numbers just give me a ton of joy!! please be patient as i continue working on this fic -- we're in the home stretch now, but i really hope to be finished with this fic by the end of november!


	7. Revali

After a hundred years, Revali is finally free. He can feel the once-familiar power of Medoh coursing through him as he looks out at Hyrule Castle, which is now targeted by three red lasers -- three Divine Beasts ready to unleash their attacks on Ganon as soon as Link goes to face him. 

Sensing a new presence behind him, Revali turns, his eyes widening when he sees Urbosa and Mipha smiling at him. He tries to recover quickly, tilting his chin up to look down his beak at them. "So you've finally decided to come visit me, hm?" He says, and Urbosa laughs, reaching forward to hit him in the shoulder. Revali is silently relieved to find that he can at least touch other spirits, though he stumbles back from the force of her hit. With a grin, she wraps her arms around him in a friendly embrace. 

"Good to see you too, you asshole," she says, and he laughs, returning the embrace. Urbosa soon steps away, and Mipha takes her place, hugging Revali as well. 

"I'm glad you're free," the Zora princess says in her soft voice, before pulling away and looking him in the eye, so that Revali can see the honesty and good will in her expression. "I'm glad you got to see Link again," she adds, and Revali nods in thanks, knowing what the sentiment means from her. 

"You gave him your Gale, right?" Urbosa asks, her voice dropping in tone, suddenly more serious than the light quality it had for their reunion. "Did he remember?"

Revali can only nod, turning away and stepping to the edge of Medoh's head, so he can look down at his old house, into which Link just disappeared. "Yes," he says in a small voice, staring down at the Champion blue curtains of his home and remembering the gut-wrenching sob that passed the Hylian's lips as he realized they couldn't touch. 

Revali feels a hand on his shoulder, and he turns to see Urbosa step up to his left, while he senses Mipha on his other side, her fins brushing his right wing. "He will take a few days to grieve," Urbosa says. "He did for both of us, too. Refused to move on until he'd spent a couple days remembering and grieving for us," she explains, and Revali nods, recalling those times himself. "He will probably take longer for you," she adds, and Mipha speaks up. 

"He must have recovered a lot of emotional memories when he received your Gale," the Zora says, and Revali looks at her, amazed at her ability to speak on this, despite everyone present knowing about her own feelings for Link. Death, it seems, changed her perspective on certain things, as it did for Revali. "So he's probably trying to make sense of all of those, as well as all the feelings that come with them."

Revali looks back to his house, but intentionally brushes his wing against Mipha's arm in a silent word of thanks. The only sign she gives him that she recognized it is a tiny intake of breath. With one last look at the curtains through which Revali desperately wants to go, he turns around and steps away. "We'll leave him to it in private, then," he says, knowing that the other two will defer to his judgement on this. He's silent for a moment, chewing on a thought that he almost doesn't want to bring up, for fear of crushing his last hope. "He still can't see us in this form, can he?" He finally asks, far more quietly than he's ever said anything to anyone but Link and the Elder who acted as his father for much of his life. 

"No," Mipha replies, and Revali hears the pity and sadness in her tone but can't bring himself to hate her for pitying him -- they are all feeling the same thing, so these two are the only ones he would ever allow to pity him for this. "But," she continues, and that traitorous spark of hope reignites in Revali's chest. "We are briefly called to him whenever he uses our gifts, and it seems like we're visible to him for a few seconds. We haven't entirely figured out why."

Revali stands in silence for another minute, wrestling with the hope in his chest. Yes, Link will see him again, but no, it will never be the same. Link will eventually move on -- Revali wouldn't want him to constantly be held back by his memory. So he only nods and takes a few more steps away from the other two, silently thankful when they wait patiently where they are, pretending not to see him cry. Like Link, he too is still recovering from their emotional farewell. Once he's collected himself, Revali straightens his back and walks back to Mipha and Urbosa, clearing his throat and giving them both a curt nod of thanks. 

"Would you prefer it if we left you in private as well, Revali?" Mipha asks, her eyes concerned, but Urbosa is already shaking her head even as Revali answers. 

"No," he replies, possibly too quickly. "I've had enough of being alone for a while." With understanding and, if Revali isn't mistaken, relieved smiles, Mipha and Urbosa nod, and the three Champions settle in to begin catching up. 

There actually isn't much to say -- they shared the same lonely experiences over the last century, but they're still good friends who have all been alone for far too long, so they talk about it all anyway, and none of them mention how Revali's eyes consistently turn back to his old house. Mipha tells them of how well Sidon has grown up, and of how she regrets how the elderly Zora treated Link upon his arrival to Zora's Domain. Urbosa tells them all about her granddaughter Riju, who is doing an incredible job as chief for one so young, especially since she's had to deal with so much disaster already. 

Revali talks of the warriors of Rito Village and how they have helped Link. He also tells them the story of how the Flight Range was built for him as a reward for becoming Champion, but that he's glad it's still being put to good use today. From Medoh, the three of them watch as the celebrations at the freedom of the village continue for three days. Link doesn't emerge from the house past the shrine even once -- many of the villagers seem to assume he's left, but twice a day, Teba's wife, Saki, takes a small bundle of food up and leaves it just inside the entrance, without going in herself or making herself known in any other way. 

Revali wishes he could thank her. 

On the morning of the fourth day, the Champions laugh over some stupid discussion that's continuing from the night before -- if the Divine Beasts were food, what kind would they be? Suddenly, Mipha gasps and stands, pointing down to the village. "Link," she says, and disappears. Revali looks down to where Mipha pointed, then follows her, appearing unseen on the path in front of Link. He senses Urbosa follow beside him, and they all watch as Link descends from the house for the first time in days. 

He is still in full Snowquill armor -- the same armor Revali made for him, from his own feathers. His eyes are ringed in red and are slightly purpled underneath, but other than that he shows no outward sign of grief. "He looks tired," Revali observes aloud, and he feels Urbosa's hand on his shoulder and Mipha's on the upper part of his other wing. 

They follow Link down the path, hovering high enough above it to avoid the disconcerting sensation of people walking right through them. Link passes right by the shrine and then the Elder's house and knocks lightly on the frame of Teba's. Teba himself isn't home -- he's probably at the Flight Range training like the warrior he is -- but his wife turns. "Ah, Descendant," she says with a smile. 

"I wanted to thank you," Link says, giving her a low bow. "It was you who brought me food, wasn't it? Over the last few days," he explains as he straightens. 

Saki's smile softens slightly, and she raises her eyebrows at him. "You're not merely the _Descendant_ of the Hylian Champion, are you? Somehow, you're the Champion himself," she says, and it isn't entirely a question, but Link nods anyway. Saki nods and turns away, idly straightening things on the shelf nearest her. "I thought that Snowquill fit you suspiciously well, and only a handmade set includes genuine Rito feather from the one who makes it. I figured that however you survived, if you really were the Hylian Champion, then you would be grieving after saying good-bye to your love, so I wanted to try to make it a bit easier on you." As she finishes, Saki sends Link another kind smile. "Even the Hero of Hyrule deserves to take time to grieve for his loved ones." 

Revali knew it already, but Saki's speech only confirms for him that the future of his people is in good hands. He only wishes he were able to thank her properly for everything she's done for Link. 

Link thanks her again with a hug, and insists that Saki and Teba let him know if they ever need anything. After a polite goodbye to the Elder, who admits that he thought Link had already left, Link leaves the village and retrieves his horse from the stable across the canyon. The mare seems to notice his lingering distress, no matter how Link tries to hide it, and she nudges her head into Link's chest, bringing a smile to his lips for the first time since he left Medoh. 

Revali wants to thank the horse, too. He silently prays to Hylia that this horse will eat only the best, sweetest apples for the rest of its life. 

//  
//

As Link begins traveling, Revali explores his new abilities as a free spirit. Hyrule Caslte and Rudania are still blocked to him, but he can visit Naboris and Ruta, and the three freed Champions begin spending more time together at Ruta than at either of the others. Medoh's position doesn't lend itself to hanging out, as all its surfaces are tilted vertically, and Revali insists on Ruta instead of Naboris just for how it frustrates Urbosa. 

( "It's too hot and dry in the desert. It dries out my feathers," he says matter-of-factly. 

"We don't have bodies, Revali. Climate makes no difference to us," Urbosa sighs, crossing her arms. 

"It's the principle," Revali replies with a shrug and a smirk, as Mipha giggles at Urbosa's frustrated groan. )

They watch Link travel through Central Hyrule, avoiding the sights of the Guardians roaming there and galloping out of range when they do see him. After a few days, he reaches the ceremonial dais where they formally inducted Link as a Champion, and all three of the freed Champions fall silent as they recall the moment at the same time that Link does. When his focus returns, Link continues standing there, looking between his Slate and the Castle in front of him. 

Revali disappears from Ruta so he can get a closer look at Link's Slate. Unseen by Link, Revali looks over the Hylian's shoulder and gasps when he sees the picture Link is examining. "Link, don't," he says reflexively, despite knowing that Link can't hear him any more than he can see him. 

"Don't what?" Urbosa's voice, in its no-nonsense tone, comes from behind him, and Revali turns to see her and Mipha behind him. 

"He's thinking about going into the castle," Revali replies, frustration and desperation coloring his tone and increasing his volume, though of course Link stays completely deaf to him. "There's another memory in there. Goddess, he's only ever killed one Guardian, and it was stuck in the ground, plus it took him at least three dozen arrows! The castle is swarming with them!"

"Revali, calm down," Mipha begins, but before she can continue or Revali can continue on his panicked tirade, Link's horse whinnies nervously, and all four Champions freeze and look around. A Guardian's distinctive pink light is visible through the eastern trees, and Link puts his Slate away and climbs on the horse. Revali breathes a sigh of relief as Link gallops to the east instead of the the north into Castle Town. It starts raining as the spirits follow Link, and the Hylian uses the lower visibility as cover to help avoid the lights of the Guardians. 

//  
//

The first time Link uses Revali's Gale, it's to solve a cheap Sheikah puzzle. The last of the orbs needed to reveal the shrine is at the top of a monument, and it's storming relentlessly, so violently that Link had to put away all of his metal equipment and replace it with wooden weapons looted from monster camps. He tries at least a dozen times to climb the statue despite the rain, and he tries shooting at the top to knock the orb down. Neither work, and eventually he's forced to kneel in the wet ground, in position to call on Revali's power. 

Revali had been preparing for this from the moment Link came upon the monument -- they both knew from the start that the Gale was the only way to get up there. He feels a gentle hand on his back, a welcome comfort from Mipha, before Link's fingers twitch against the ground. 

Revali appears in front of Link, and it is just like the first time Link used the glider -- Revali flies slowly around him as Link rises with the summoned Gale. For the first time since Medoh, Link's eyes meet Revali's, and Revali sees the way his eyes flit all over Revali's face, taking in every detail, as if trying to commit those precious few seconds to memory. Revali can see the moment he stops being visible to Link, because the same pain from the day he was freed fills Link's eyes, before he must shake himself out of it and focus on landing accurately on top of the monument. 

Revali lingers near Link for a while after that, and he's thankful when the other two don't join him. 

//  
//

The Champions continue to watch over Link as he travels through Lanayru and into Akkala. He makes his way north, and Revali watches as Link agrees to help a construction worker build a town from nothing. Revali is struck by how the people of Hyrule have kept going -- how, outside of Zora's Domain, there is almost no one alive in Hyrule who remembers a time before the Calamity. There's those Sheikah sisters, and Revali thinks Link must be on his way to see the other scientist, but besides those three Sheikah and the older generation of Zoras, no one else remembers the castle before it was ravaged and crumbling, as it is now. 

This war has gone on for far too long -- so long, in fact, that many of Hyrule's people seem completely unaware that there even  _is_ a war. To them, this is just how life is, and how it's always been. 

Link agrees to send a Goron whose name ends in 'son' to Tarrey Town, then heads on his way. He and his horse continue to head north, and Revali nearly has a heart attack when Link is targeted by a Guardian's laser. The Guardian, thankfully, is immobile, so Link spurs his faithful horse into a sprint and the Guardian's shot hits a tree as Link makes it to the lab on top of the hill. He spends the rest of the day waiting for it to stop raining, but it rains through the night. In the morning, the sunrise peeks through the clouds, so Link grabs a torch and glides off the hill to the ancient furnace. He had to do something similar for the Hateno lab, and just like last time, it's slow going. There are monsters camped along the path, so Link is forced to light the lamps along the way so he can put out the torch and fight them without having to start over. The Guardian nearly shoots him again, and it's even closer this time since Link can't sprint without putting out the torch. He makes it, though, and finally lights the dumb furnace. 

In exchange, Robbie gives him some arrows that are designed to work on Guardians, and Link spends a while exchanging ancient materials and rupees for more ancient weapons. He walks out of the lab with fifteen arrows, and ancient bow, and an ancient shield. Leaving his horse at the lab, Link equips his new gear and marches confidently down the hill into the Guardian's range. 

Link stands his ground and readies his new shield as the Guardian targets him. Revali prays to the Goddess that this overpriced shield is enough to protect him, and he gasps aloud when Link succeeds in deflecting the blast to his left -- and the shield doesn't break on his arm, as every other shield he's tried that with as done. Link sprints over to the fire spreading where the blast hit and opens his glider to catch the updraft. Time seems to slow as he draws his new bow with one of the ancient arrows, and he takes a second to adjust his aim before loosing the arrow. It soars through the air and lands right in the Guardian's eye. 

Incredibly, the Guardian explodes after just that one hit, and all three freed Champions cheer along with Link as he glides down to collect the materials left behind. He goes back inside briefly to replace the arrow he just used, then gets on his horse and heads south again. He bears west this time, and comes to a crossroad when he reaches the Foothill Stable. He stays the night at the stable, then strikes out to the west once again. "Sorry, Daruk," he says, looking toward the volcano. "I'm going to find my sword." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know, it's been a while since i last updated. the next chapter actually isn't done yet, but im REALLY blocked on it and figured that posting and getting more feedback from you guys would motivate me to get through it! i actually became motivated to write for this story again after i got a few new comments in the last week -- getting the notification about them and reading how even just one person was still reading this brought a smile to my face and helped me get back in the swing of writing for this story! i don't know how long it'll be until i finish the next one (exams are in about a week, rip me) but as long as you guys keep commenting, i promise i'll keep updating! 
> 
> some story-related things to keep in mind as we move forward:
> 
> 1) i am not including mentions of every memory. i'm trying to touch on all of the ones that involve the champions, and of course the ones that include revali, but since link passes through the memory locations during revali chapters and revali isnt in most of the memories, it would just be awkward and weird to make him comment on every memory link recovers. 
> 
> for example, i didnt mention the silent princess memory or the spring of power memories in this one, even though link definitely passed by/through the locations. i considered including them, but i couldn't find a way to include them without significantly lengthening an already-long chapter and just making it sound awkward. it wouldn't make sense for revali to know a lot about either of those memories, so i decided not to include them. 
> 
> 2) though not every memory will be mentioned, you can assume that link obtains them all. in this chapter especially i wanted to focus more on the champions and the bond between them, so it felt awkward and clunky to mention memories that only involve link and zelda. tl;dr, all of the memories will be recovered, and the ones important to the story (i.e, the unlockable last one) will be explicitly written about! 
> 
> 3) there are only three full chapters left in this story! (there may or may not be an epilogue, i havent decided yet haha) we're in the home stretch, so please leave comments to encourage me! i've never finished a fic before, and this is my first time ever having one completely plotted out from the get-go, so i really think i'll be able to do it with your support. even if it's been weeks or months (god i hope it wont be months, but who knows) since the last update, leave a comment if you liked it! you'll probably motivate me to write again!


	8. Link

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited 6/25/19

Link truly is glad to be getting his memories back. Without them, he hardly felt like a person, but more like an empty shell, the abandoned home of a crab that had long since moved on. But in a way, his memories are a new burden. There's an almost constant ache in his chest, a heavy feeling of grief for Revali and the other Champions. He's glad, at least, that none of their people seem to have forgotten them. Even the Rito, whose life spans are even shorter than Hylians, still pass down stories of Revali and honor him by keeping up the Landing and his house. They remember Revali as the heroic warrior he was -- the one Link knows he's proud to be remembered as -- but Link is still glad that he's now able to remember Revali as he truly, fully was. 

Link remembers his personality and quirks -- the way he always seemed arrogant and overconfident, but how that stemmed from insecurity, from working hard enough that no one would be able to put him down. Link remembers how his arrogant front disappeared when he was needed as a leader. Link remembers how Revali worked himself ragged whenever he put his mind to something, and how Link sometimes had to literally drag him away from the Flight Range when he spent days on end fine-tuning his already-perfect Gale. Link remembers how when they were alone, Revali's walls and arrogant front once again fell away, and his eyes would soften every time they met Link's. 

The Rito's stories remember Revali as a warrior, a Champion. And although Link knows Revali is just fine with that, he still takes it upon himself to remember everything else. 

The same is true for Mipha and Urbosa, of course, but for reasons that he supposes are understandable, Link is taking far longer to move on from his regained memories and grief for Revali than he did for either of the other two. But despite his own stronger emotions, he can't stay stagnant during his grieving period -- there are too many people still counting on him. 

The days he spent in Revali's house are a blur in his memory, yet somehow they feel like the longest days of his life. He spent the time slipping in and out of a sleep-like stupor, but one that wasn't quite true sleep. He passed days reliving his newfound memories of his time with Revali, going through them over and over. In the time in between, he thought about the unfairness of how they ended up and let himself cry, there in the dark where no one could see. 

( And despite somehow knowing that Revali's spirit can see him still, Link is also certain in his belief that Revali wasn't present for Link's grief, as he surely knew Link wouldn't have wanted anyone to see him in such a state. If he is to grieve, Link wishes to do so alone, and Revali would have respected that. )

//  
//

When he finally feels ready to leave the village, his grief has transformed into frustration over the unfairness of it all. He talks to as few people as possible (after thanking Saki, of course) for fear of snapping at them. Retrieving Deya helps him calm down a bit, and he talks aimlessly to her as they ride southeast, though he avoids all mention or thoughts of Revali. 

Every time they come upon a group of monsters, Link loses himself in the fight, his anger unleashing on Ganon's minions. Deya helps keep him grounded after these fights. He always loots the monsters and their hideout on autopilot, then moves back to his horse in a kind of daze. Once he gets on her back, Deya moves without prompting, continuing down the road so that Link can hide his face in her mane and briefly try to ignore the world. 

When a fortnight of this leaves him exhausted and sick of the endless, miserable cycle, Link decides to follow his instincts and go find his old sword. He had it in all of the memories he's recovered so far, so maybe getting it back will restore more memories, or even a part of himself that's been hidden away with the sword. 

For the first time since Medoh, Link has a clear goal that he actively wants to chase, and it shows. The rumors he's heard say that the sword is hidden in a forest somewhere, and though his Sheikah Slate map is still woefully incomplete, most stables have one they can let him look at while he stays there. None of them are ever to the same amount of detail as his Slate's map, but he can still tell that there's only one forest of any sizable significance, and it's directly north of Hyrule Castle. When he thinks about it, he has a gut feeling about that forest, too, so he sets his course for it. 

In the couple of weeks it takes him to travel, moving from stable to stable and campfire to campfire, Link wonders if the sword will really help. Clearly, he's supposed to have it -- maybe it'll give him an extra power to actually  _talk_ to the spirits of the freed Champions. Maybe not all the time, or for long, but a little? He knows they're watching, after all -- they appear to him for seconds at a time whenever he uses their powers. 

( He remembers the first time he used Revali's Gale. He was trying to scale a cliff in the rain, so he knelt and summoned the updraft so he could soar up. When he opened his eyes and saw Revali soaring with him, Link nearly lost his grip on the paraglider and, as he regained his balance, leaned too far forward and slammed into the cliff face with a wince. 

He'd seen Mipha and Urbosa both appear before -- he should have expected it, should have been ready. But he was so tired from trying to climb that damn cliff, and all he could think about was getting to shelter and warming up by a fire. He hasn't used Revali's Gale since, if only because he worries that he'll become obsessed with using it, too attached to that shade of Revali that appears for a second. He's resolved to only use it in dire situations, at least until he feels a bit more emotionally stable. )

//  
//

As soon as Link sets foot in the Lost Woods, he knows he's in the right place. It's like a gut feeling, similar to what he felt in the village ruins he named Deya for, but stronger. He can identify it now: it's a sensation of familiarity, the comfort of coming home. He remembers he once told Revali that he lived in Korok Forest and trained under the Great Deku Tree as a child before being chosen as the princess's knight -- in the present, he wonders if the Great Deku Tree is that giant pink one visible from miles away. 

Unfortunately, he doesn't remember the path through the fog, since he's only recovered his memories that include Mipha, Urbosa, and Revali. Thankfully, though, it's easy enough once he picks up a torch, so long as he doesn't run too quickly. Soon enough, Link has entered the sanctuary of the Korok Forest, where he sees the familiar spirits in the corner of his eye everywhere he turns, though they seem to duck out of sight as soon as he tries to look directly at them. Putting his torch away, he walks forward, gazing around at the all-too-familiar area that seems to glow in the mid-afternoon light filtered through the trees. 

Link follows the chittering of the spirits to the center of the little village. It's not quite a clearing -- trees still press in on all sides, though without the fog looming over him the area does feel more open than before. Link blinks as he steps up to what's clearly the center, where a familiar sword glints in the light where it rests in the stone pedestal. Link's eyes are drawn to it, and he can't help but stare open-mouthed at it as he approaches, though when he senses the Koroks moving again in front of him, he turns his gaze upward. 

 _Ah_ , he thinks to himself, rather drily.  _So that's what I meant by Great Deku Tree_. He hadn't really been sure what it meant, when in his memory he told Revali that he'd studied under the tree. When he'd said it, it had sounded like the tree was his teacher, which felt absurd to Link, but looking at the moving bark that very clearly forms a giant face, he finally understands what he meant. 

The tree's voice is deep and slow, and it feels like it reverberates from the ground beneath Link's feet and from the very air around him, though he clearly sees  the mouth of the tree move as it speaks of Link making him wait. Finally, it directs his attention back to the sword, and Link turns to look at it as the tree tells him more of the story of its history, though Link listens well as the tree gives him a serious warning as well: if he were to try to pull the sword without the necessary strength, he would lose his life from the effort. 

 _So the sword won't just hand itself back to me,_ he thinks idly, stepping up to the sword and wrapping his hands around the hilt. With a deep breath, Link starts to pull. As he feels the odd sensation of the sword sapping his strength into itself, Link thinks that he's glad the sword didn't just return to him quietly. He's the same person as before he lost his memories, technically, but he still feels like he needs to prove himself worthy of the sword again, considering he doesn't remember when he received the sword before. 

When Link feels almost ready to fall over, when he isn't sure if the sword will accept or reject him or if the Great Deku Tree will stop him before he dies, the sword finally emerges from the crack in the stone. Link stumbles back, the sword swinging wide in his right hand, before he stares at it in awe, feeling his strength return to him in a rush, as if the sword has decided to return it now that he's proven himself worthy. 

Suddenly, Link stumbles forward as a flood of memories enter his mind. Most are too fast for him to latch onto or find any detail in, but he realizes that it must be a quick flash of his own history with the sword. He's young, entering Korok Forest for the first time, and going to pull the sword immediately before the Great Deku Tree stops him. He's older, stealing glances at the sword as he runs around completing the Great Deku Tree's tasks for him, or being sent out of the forest to help nearby villages or the people in Castle Town with whatever random things they need. He's sitting at the edge of the pedestal, staring wide-eyed at the sword where it glistens, so close yet still untouchable. 

He's a bit older, gripping the hilt of the sword and pulling it for real, wincing as it drains his strength but not letting go, instead letting it drain him until it allows him to pull it from the stone, and he stares at it in awe like he just did in present day. 

The rest is just brief flashes of him using the sword -- Link catches sight of the memory he unlocked at the ceremonial dais, where Zelda appointed him as her Champion knight, but that's the last image he's able to fully focus on. The rest speeds through his mind too fast for him to lock onto it, until it settles on an image of Zelda, in her white praying clothes that have been dirtied almost beyond recognition, holding the beat-up, stained sword in her own hands and setting it back in its pedestal. Link hears the conversation between Zelda and the Great Deku Tree, and he realizes that this must be right after he fell, but just before she went to confront Ganon at the castle. 

The sword's memory fades, and Link blinks at it, standing in exactly the same spot Zelda did a century ago. "The princess has been waiting for a long time," the tree says slowly, simply, as if it knows exactly what Link just saw. Link looks up at the tree, gripping the sword's already-familiar hilt tightly in his hand. 

"She won't have to for much longer," he says simply. 

//  
//

He reunites with Deya outside the forest, and steers her towards the Eldin region as he grapples with a new struggle. He got more memories from retrieving the sword ( though, to be honest, they don't quite feel like  _his_ \-- instead they feel more like the sword's memories, watching him from its pedestal and later his back ). However, he still grapples with frustration -- he'd tried not to get his hopes up too much, but he can't help but feel a little disappointed by his reunion with the sword. It feels less like getting a part of himself back and more like just picking up a really powerful weapon. He wonders if the longer he uses and fights with the sword, the more he'll feel like it's a part of him, but right now he hardly feels like the Hero of Hyrule. 

Instead, he just feels more lost in his grief than ever. 

What did he expect from the sword, a magical solution to all his emotional problems? A piece of sharp metal isn't going to provide a solution to century-old issues, and he was stupid to expect that it would. 

He's pulled out of his increasingly-negative thoughts when he approaches the stable at the foot of the mountain and is warned of the horrible heat up ahead. He boards Deya, and buys a few fireproof elixirs from one of the stablehands. He's almost certain she scammed him out of more money than they're worth, but it's not like he has any other options. He'll find some more fireproof lizards on his way up the mountain and will make more elixirs as he needs them. 

Traveling on foot up a lava- and monster- infested volcano takes a lot more of Link's focus than just riding on Deya's back did, so he's sufficiently distracted from his depression as he climbs the mountain path, taking shortcuts over peaks by climbing and using his glider to soar down the other side. 

The heat is oppressing, and Link quickly finds himself missing the cool, open air of Rito Village. He does his best not to think about the Rito, though, preferring to avoid those memories for now. Instead, he climbs the mountain in a kind of daze, and finds himself slightly surprised at the end of the day to have reached an area near the top.

( He meets a Goron along the way who seems dissatisfied with his life here, though, and his and his little brother's names both end in son, so he suggests that they head to Tarrey Town. He hopes Hudson appreciates the help, in his own way. )

Goron City isn't quite at the peak of the mountain, but it is well beyond the point Hylians can safely venture without some sort of fire protection. There's armor available in a shop, but Link doesn't bother buying it. He'll be fine with elixirs, especially with the quantity of fireproof lizards he's picked up on his way up here. He finds a campfire where he makes as many fireproof elixirs as he can, then he replenishes his food, making a few spare meals that he can travel with. Once all that's done, Link wanders off to find the Goron Elder. 

He does exactly what Link wanted him to do, and gives the Hylian a task to help him with, though not before pointing out Daruk's statue and unlocking Link's first memory of the Goron Champion. Just from that memory, it doesn't seem like he and Daruk were close enough for Link to grieve for him like he is for Revali, and a brief moment of guilt strikes him, for being selfishly glad that he won't have to grieve as much. Daruk seems like he was a kind soul, perfect for his role as Champion for his people. He deserves better than Link's selfish way of remembering him. 

The task of finding Yunobo takes a significant amount of Link's attention, though, as he has to be careful to avoid falling in any lava -- a certain death for a Hylian like him, no matter what armor he has or what elixirs he's drank. He also has to fend off hordes of Lizalfos, though ice arrows and the natural drafts from between the rocks make that easier than it seems. Even the cannons are easy to operate, with the Slate's bombs. With them, it's laughably easy to free Yunobo, and Link's expression instinctively softens when he sees how scared the Goron boy is. 

"Y-Y-You're not a monster," Yunobo stutters as Link enters the room, holding his hands up to show he means no harm. 

"No, I'm not. I'm Link," he replies easily, and Yunobo seems to slowly relax. 

"How'd you get in here, boyo? I didn't think anyone except the Chief was strong enough to use the cannons!" He babbles, seeming to get excited now. Link shrugs in response, unsure how to reply. Strength had little to do with his operation of the cannons, after all. "W-Well, anyway, thanks for your help! I'd better get back to the Chief!"

"Don't forget the medicine," Link says without thinking, then immediately worries that Yunobo will take offense to Link's apparent lack of confidence in him. 

"Oh, right! Thanks again, boyo!" The Goron exclaims, turning around from the door to sort through a couple boxes on a shelf nearby, before surfacing with a small bottle and waving to Link before hurrying out. Link follows at a bit of a slower pace, and is hardly surprised when he returns to the city to find Yunobo already by the Chief's side. It doesn't take long before the Chief sends the two of them out again, though, this time to calm down Rudania. For Link, however, he has a bit of a different goal: to actually enter the Divine Beast and re-take it, like he's already done all the others. 

The Chief seems surprised by this, but doesn't seem prepared to argue with him. "As long as Rudania stops attacking the village, I'll be fine whatever happens," he grumbles, and Link nods. Assuming he succeeds, Rudania shouldn't attack the village ever again. Link will return her to Daruk's control, after all. "It's a bit late to head up today, so you should both plan to head out first thing tomorrow, ya hear?" Link and Yunobo both nod in the face of the Chief's glare, and Link soon wanders off to find an inn where he can stay. 

//  
//

Traveling even further up the volcano with Yunobo quickly proves to be  _fun_ , something Link hasn't really had much of since he left Rito Village. He finds himself smiling at the other's nervous babbling, and surging forward to fight every time Yunobo screams at the approach of monsters. Once they get over the bridge, monsters become less of a threat, but the ancient machines flying around definitely are. They fly in a set pattern, though, and as long as Yunobo stays hidden Link should be able to take them out by climbing up above them and either bombing them or sending some other big stuff down onto them. 

It proves to be even easier than that, as most of the summits of the peaks have metal boxes and beams scattered around them, possibly from old construction or mining projects that had to be abandoned as soon as Rudania turned on the Gorons. Link helps Yunobo hide in the shadows, then climbs up and takes out the nearest machines before gliding back down to Yunobo and alerting him that it's safe with a whistle. Their conversation between these cycles is relaxed and easy, and Yunobo picks up on Link's dry sense of humor quickly. 

Climbing the mountain is fun, and it's so rewarding to successfully hit Rudania with the cannons, even if it does seem a little excessive to have Yunobo himself serve as the ammunition. Yunobo seems fine, though, thanks to Daruk's genetic power, even if he does seem a bit dizzy for a minute after every blast. Link continues on anyway, feeling lighter than he has in weeks. 

( He wonders if it's more because of Yunobo's easy friendship, or because of the fact that instead of the Master Sword, he's using a Goron Stone Smasher as his weapon on this trip. Link has wondered, in the short time he's had the sword, if it feels heavier to him now than it did before, if he feels more deeply the responsibilities the sword places on him. )

It's just barely past lunchtime when they finally drive Rudania into the caldera to recover its strength, and Yunobo and Link follow it to the lip. "You're r-really gonna go in there, boyo?" Yunobo asks, the nerves back in his voice as the two of them look down into the volcano, where the Divine Beast shifts slightly, seeming to get comfortable. 

"I've got to," Link says. "I'm the only one who can." He thinks about Yunobo, living in fear of Ganon's monsters and of Rudania, but still going out when he's needed because he's the only one who can be shot out to drive the beast back. Link looks over to meet his new friend's eyes, and finds an understanding there that doesn't surprise him at all. But still, there's a note of resignation in his voice -- it's hard, being the world's Champion when all he wants to do most of the time is curl up on the ground and not move for a week. 

"R-Right, but...do you  _want_ to?" Yunobo asks, and Link blinks in shock, though the answer comes to him almost immediately. 

Still, he looks over and blinks at the Goron for a moment, thinking of the few memories of his grandfather that Link has, and wondering if Yunobo's only asking because it's something he's never been asked. "Yes," Link says finally, nodding firmly. "Yes, I do want to." 

Yunobo smiles at him hesitantly, like somehow Link just made his day, even with the fear of the beast below still lurking underneath his smile. "I believe in you, boyo," he says, holding up his fist. Link grins and taps it with his own before getting out his paraglider and jumping into the volcano, using the glider to guide himself to land safely on Rudania's back. 

"Be careful, Link," Yunobo says above him, far out of Link's hearing range. 

With a new friend counting on him to return safely, Link enters the final Divine Beast, and his world is plunged into total darkness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, i'm really sorry that this chapter took so long! it's been a month and a half since i last updated, and i'm sorry for that. i work retail, so the holidays kicked my butt, and now i'm back in school for another semester, so real life has really just been keeping me busy lately. thanks to everyone who's commented, though! you guys have no idea how much your kudos and comments encourage me to continue writing. 
> 
> we're really almost to the end now! i think this chapter ended up way more boring than i thought it would ( and i didnt even get through rudania in it, which i wanted to do ), and it's way longer than i expected it to be, too. i'm sorry for all that! i hope that even though it's not my favorite, it didn't disappoint you guys who have been waiting so long already. 
> 
> i can't promise when the next update will be, what with school getting into full swing here soon and so much of my time taken up by that. but please keep commenting and let me know what you think, and encourage me to keep writing! 
> 
> also, i'm sorry for the lack of revali this time. this chapter's purpose was really to explore link's journey through the stages of grief, and his new way of dealing with things now that he has to deal with such a strong loss on top of everything else. i promise revali will come back next time! 
> 
> as always, thanks so much for reading, and remember to kudos, comment, and bookmark if you liked it!


	9. Revali

Watching Link grieve for him is one of the most painful experiences Revali's ever had. By the time Link makes it to Goron City, it's been over a fortnight since he left Rito Village, yet Revali can count on one wing how many times Link has smiled in that time. 

Revali doesn't know much about Daruk's grandson -- he's spent most of his time as an omniscient spirit watching the Rito and Link and not much else. However, he does know that no one could make Link smile and laugh as easily as Daruk could a hundred years ago. Despite the Hylian's lost memories of Yunobo's grandfather, Revali has to told out hope that the Goron Champion's grandson will have the same talent. At first, though, he's shocked by how different Yunobo seems from Daruk. Where the Champion was boisterous, confident, and strong, Yunobo is blustering, shy, and clumsier than any Goron Revali's ever met. Beyond the Goron Champion's famous power, it's hard to see that Yunobo inherited anything from his grandfather. 

That is, until he and Link spend more than five minutes together, at which point it becomes abundantly clear that yes, Yunobo did somehow inherit his grandfather's talent for bringing smiles and laughter to Link's lips. The small chuckles and smiles hidden behind his hands may not seem like much to some, but it's miles better than how Link has been in the last two weeks. Even if Link still isn't speaking unless it's absolutely necessary, each smile that crosses his face and every chuckle that escapes his lips is priceless to Revali. Every time Yunobo jolts to a halt at Link's whistle, every time he stumbles forward with a sheepish grin, Revali catches hints of amusement and happiness on Link's face, even if the Hylian remains silent except for his whistles and occasional grunts while climbing. 

It's a start, Revali thinks, and it can go a long way. 

The climb to Rudania is long, but eventually the young Goron and Hylian make it, odd pair that they are. Yunobo's aimless rambling cuts off with a gasp when they reach the lip of the volcano. He looks over at his companion, watching Link prepare to glide down to the beast. 

"Are you sure about going in there, boyo?" He asks, pressing his knuckles together like some Gorons do when they're nervous. For Yunobo, it happens about as often as breathing. 

Link glances up at him before shrugging and looking back to his paraglider. "I'm the only one who can," he replies, and Revali's heart clenches at how resigned he sounds. 

"R-Right, but...do you want to?" Yunobo asks, and Revali sees the jolt of shock that widens Link's eyes and has him look back up at Yunobo, then to the beast below. 

It's a long moment before Link replies, but from the way his expression changes as he looks into the volcano, Revali thinks he's thinking of the few memories of Daruk he has, before the Hylian looks to Yunobo, the emotion in his eyes hardening into solid determination. 

"Yes," he says with a firm nod. "Yes, I do want to." 

Revali can't help but smile as Yunobo offers encouragement and a fist bump, and in his periphery he sees Urbosa nod approvingly. "He always did have a hero complex," Revali shakes his head, and though the words come out fond rather than sardonic like he meant, they still earn a laugh from Mipha. 

Below them, Link readies himself, gives a small smile and quick salute to Yunobo, and leaps into the volcano. The Goron lets out a shocked yell and darts to the edge, but Revali just rolls his eyes. And Link used to call  _him_ dramatic. He's hardly worried -- Link coated his glider in a special kind of fireproof elixir to keep it safe up here, and Revali knows Link will be safe using it -- he built it himself, after all. 

Sure enough, Link lands safely on Rudania's back, but as soon as he activates the beast, Revali loses sight of him. He tries to keep his sudden lurch of fear and protectiveness out of his expression, but he either fails miserably or the others know him too well to believe the mask, for they both move closer to him and each place a hand on his shoulders. 

It may still be torture to be unable to do or see anything while Link fights for his life, but it is a bit easier with the others at his side. 

The Champions keep their vigil on the lip of the volcano, watching Rudania for any change as Yunobo paces nervously below, either unable or unwilling to go back down without Link. Revali loses track of time, but the sun has moved a good distance across the sky when Mipha suddenly gasps before disappearing. 

Revali, caught in sudden fear, blinks and finds himself instantly ten feet in the air, hovering without beating his wings as he looks wildly down to Rudania. The fight must have started -- there's no other reason Mipha could have disappeared. The fight with the monster that killed Daruk has begun, and Link was injured enough for Mipha to be called to heal him. 

"Revali," Urbosa calls, probably intending to be soothing, but her voice is tense, and she's on her feet too. Before either of them can do anything else, though, Mipha reappears. 

With a bit more purpose than his accidental flicker a moment ago, Revali blinks again and is instantly at the Zora's side. "He's--" he begins, but Mipha puts a hand on the upper part of his wing and cuts him off.

"He's fine," she says, her voice as calm and soothing as ever, though Revali can detect worry behind her expression of calm. "He's doing well. Just got a bad burn, but he's okay now." Revali wants to start pacing like Yunobo, but before he can even move or respond to Mipha's words, he feels a familiar tug in his core. His eyes widen, but he's already flickered away from MIpha and appeared before Link. 

The Hylian Champion's hair is messed up under his climbing bandana, and the first crazy thought Revali has at the sight of him is that he wants to re-braid the blonde locks. Ignoring that, Revali uses the few precious seconds he has to check Link for signs of harm. There's soot and ash all over him, almost completely darkening his blue Champion's tunic to a dull gray. There's a bruise on the Hylian's temple -- probably a result of landing badly in a dodge -- and a bleeding cut on his left arm where it looks like a shield strap once was. The shield itself is gone -- probably broken in the fight. 

Revali's eyes find Links as the two of them reach the Gale's full height, and he sees the same solid determination from before he entered the beast. In that moment, Revali without even looking at the battlefield that Link probably didn't necessarily  _need_ to use the Gale -- he just used it to dodge so he could see Revali. If they had time, REvali would go off about it being a wasteful use of his power, and a reckless move besides. But they don't have time, so Revali's feelings instead settle on fondness and longing as his vision fades while Link prepares an arrow. 

( Still, even if it was wasteful and reckless and stupid, Revali is glad Link did it. He may not have seen the battlefield or the monster, but that look in Link's eyes reassures him that the Hylian can handle this -- he's never been weak or fragile, after all. ) 

Barely ten minutes later, Rudania lights up blue, and all three Champions cheer. They can feel the return of Daruk, like a missing puzzle piece finding its place within them. The three of them hug in every combination they can, certain that they can almost hear Daruk's booming laugh in the backs of their minds. Despite having Rudania open to them now, the Champions stay where they are, not wanting to intrude on Link and Daruk's reunion. While Urbosa and Mipha chat about how great it'll be to all be together again, Revali turns to Hyrule Castle, where he can still see a small, bright golden light shining through the darkness. 

 _He's coming for you next, Princess,_ he thinks.  _Hold on just a little longer_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry this took forever and is shorter than the other chapters rip it gave me a really hard time bc transitioning back to revali was really difficult for this part?? but i wasn't about to break the pattern lmao and before i knew it months had gone by rip
> 
> so im sorry it's late, but we can all thank nintendo's e3 announcement for giving me muse to write this once again!! nothing like a sequel announcement to motivate you to finish your fic amirite 
> 
> i can't promise when the next chapter will be up, but i may need to split it into two because it'll be really long and i haven't actually started on it yet but.....as soon as it's done, it'll be posted!! as always, thank you guys so much for your support, and i'll try not to make you wait so long between chapters next time! kudos, comment, bookmark, and/or subscribe to let me know what you think of the story!! getting kudos and comments are the best way to motivate me to write more tbh and i love hearing y'all's thoughts!!

**Author's Note:**

> and there's our prologue! i know it's short, and you can expect the full chapters to be much longer. hopefully i'll be able to get the first official chapter up later today or tomorrow! please remember to leave kudos and comment if you liked it, and subscribe if you want to be notified when i update! 
> 
> if you want to check out my mess of a tumblr, im [pterstrk](http://pterstrk.tumblr.com/)!


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